Heavenly Eye 2: School Ghost Stories
CHAPTER 2
07.
Although this thought had flashed through my mind, I forced myself to let go and not blame anyone.
“Everyone is responsible for their own actions. Li Zhuangzhuang died because he ignored his teachers and adults' warnings and went swimming in the river without permission.
If he hadn't gone swimming that day, maybe it wouldn't have happened.”
Hearing my words, Shao Lanxuan became a little agitated.
“No! It's me! It's all because of me!
My existence only brings misfortune to those around me.
My parents, and Li Zhuangzhuang, they all died because of me…”
Looking at Shao Lanxuan's distraught state, I secretly frowned.
Although I know Shao Lanxuan's childhood experiences have left him with significant psychological trauma, it's not like he's responsible for everything.
Even Li Zhuangzhuang himself never mentioned this, so how can it be blamed on him?
I vaguely remember that when I read Shao Lanxuan's fate, I seemed to see that he would face a major disaster when he was twelve or thirteen years old.
Seeing this dark cloud hanging over him, could he be about to face another major misfortune?
So I put my hand on his shoulder.
“Shao Lanxuan, what's wrong with you? Can you tell me?”
Unexpectedly, as soon as I touched his shoulder, I was pushed away by a force.
If Shen Chen hadn't caught me from behind, I would have fallen.
Shen Chen glared fiercely at Shao Lanxuan and said to me in a huff, “Sis, let's not play with him! Come on, I'll take you back to do your homework!”
I was about to say something: “That…”
Shen Chen directly dragged me away, not even giving me a chance to say goodbye.
Shen Chen is small but strong, and he pulled so hard it hurt.
From afar, I turned back to look at Shao Lanxuan, and I seemed to see two shadowy figures standing behind him.
When they saw me looking at them, they all turned to look at me.
One of them looked a little like Shao Lanxuan.
“Spirits?”
My brow furrowed even tighter.
Shen Chen suddenly handed me a sausage.
“Sis, want a sausage?”
I immediately forgot everything and said, “Yes!”
08.
You know, you really shouldn't say it.
The sausages Shen Chen bought were really good.
My allowance was already gone before the end of the month, how does he always have money?
Could it be that his allowance is actually more than mine?
I voiced this confusion, and Shen Chen's simple reply made me feel guilty for a lifetime.
“Because I haven't spent any, I saved it to buy you delicious things.”
I was munching on the sausage Shen Chen bought, and I let out a howl and cried.
I planted a kiss on his face.
“Wuwuwu, you're so good, little brother!”
Shen Chen wiped the greasy kiss marks on his face with disgust.
“Go away! You're so dirty!”
Although I saw the spirits behind Shao Lanxuan, I still felt uneasy.
When I got home, I rummaged through everything, trying to find the contact information that Shao Lanxuan had left for Li Zhuangzhuang and me.
Finally, I found it under Li Zhuangzhuang's memorial tablet in the cabinet.
That's right, I secretly set up a memorial tablet for Li Zhuangzhuang in the bottom drawer of my closet, without my family knowing.
I would offer him jelly, potato chips, spicy strips, etc., as offerings.
The young master was Li Zhuangzhuang's very important friend, I couldn't just ignore him completely.
After the call connected, the other side was silent, with no one speaking.
I called out several times.
“Hello? Is anyone there? My name is Shen Tong, I'm looking for Shao Lanxuan…”
Unexpectedly, a low, sinister woman's voice came from the other end of the phone:
“Shao Lanxuan must die! This is what the Shao family owes me! I will make the Shao family extinct!
Even if you're the Heavenly Eye Girl, it won't change anything!”
I immediately felt a chill run down my spine.
Is someone really trying to harm Shao Lanxuan?
Just as I was about to say something, Shao Lanxuan's voice finally came from the other end of the phone:
“Shen Tongtong? Why are you calling me?”
I hesitated and said, “Are you... okay?”
Shao Lanxuan's warm voice, tinged with laughter, came again: “You're worried about me because of what happened today, right?
I'm fine, I just got emotional thinking about the past.
I'm leaving the country soon, I prepared some gifts for you, I'll send them to your house, remember to pick them up…”
Before he could finish, I interrupted him:
“If you want to live, don't get on the plane!”
Shao Lanxuan was stunned for a moment: “Why are you saying that?”
I didn't know what to say.
I couldn't tell him that I just heard a woman on the phone say she was going to make your Shao family extinct, and she might be standing right next to you now, could I?
What if it scared her off?
I scratched my head in frustration: “That... where do you live? I'm going to visit you!”
09.
I, Shen Tong, am a person who believes in repaying kindness.
As the saying goes, “He who eats another's food is short of speech; he who takes another's hand is weak.”
Li Zhuangzhuang and I had received countless snacks and toys from Shao Lanxuan in the past. I couldn't just stand by and watch him get hurt.
So, I grabbed my backpack, thought for a second, then grabbed my grandma's feather duster, and lied to Shen Chen that my piano lesson had been rescheduled, and I successfully snuck out.
Originally, I had made up my mind that even if I had to run away from home, I would stop Shao Lanxuan from boarding the plane.
Unexpectedly, his house was quite close to mine…
Hmm... how close?
I grabbed an ice cream cone from the fridge on my way out.
I finished the ice cream cone and I arrived at Shao Lanxuan's house - that's how close it is.
“You live in the apartment complex opposite mine?”
Shao Lanxuan looked at me, his smile slightly stiff.
“Yeah…”
I asked him, “Why don't you come over to play?”
Shao Lanxuan didn't explain, he just asked me, “Forget about that, what's up with you coming over here?”
I remembered that I came to see him for a reason.
From behind my backpack, I pulled out the feather duster.
Shao Lanxuan saw me whip out the feather duster and instinctively ducked.
I quickly hid the duster behind my back.
“Don't be nervous, don't be nervous.
I saw you acting strange this evening, and I thought maybe you had something unclean attached to you.
Come here, I'll brush it off of you.”
As I said this, I started swinging the feather duster towards him.
Shao Lanxuan was amused by my behavior.
He grabbed my feather duster and said, “You really are a little fortune teller, aren't you?”
I blurted out, “Of course! Fortune tellers might cheat you for ten or eight years, but I, Shen Tong, can tell you when you'll die!”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that wasn't the right thing to say.
I quickly walked toward the yard with the feather duster.
“Anyway, you know what I mean.”
I was born with an extra eye, so I can see things that ordinary people can't.
But that doesn't mean that my eyes are constantly filled with those things.
Sometimes I choose not to see them, and sometimes, they choose not to be seen by me.
I had assumed that since Shao Lanxuan was so unlucky, his house must be extremely dangerous.
That's why I brought my grandma's ‘magic tool’ - the feather duster.
But to my surprise, Shao Lanxuan's house seemed perfectly normal.
From the feng shui layout to the decorations and furniture, there was nothing unusual about it.
I took my grandma's feather duster and walked around Shao Lanxuan's house, inside and out.
I pretended to be helping him clean up.
Shao Lanxuan looked helpless.
“Little fortune teller, what are you trying to do?”
I saw him smiling and I became serious. “Young Master, I'm saving your life!”
As I said this, suddenly, a cough, piercing through the courtyard, echoed from outside the door.
10.
A feeling of unease swept through me in an instant.
I asked Shao Lanxuan nervously, “Who is it?”
Seeing me so nervous, Shao Lanxuan looked at me strangely.
“It must be my grandpa.”
Sure enough, a moment later, an old man in a traditional Chinese robe walked in from outside.
His hair and beard were completely white, but his face had few wrinkles.
He wore a jade ring on his hand, a bright green color, and he held a black wood cane. He looked very majestic and powerful, with a youthful face and white hair.
Especially his eyes, they were deep and dark, with an air of authority.
But I could tell at a glance that Shao Lanxuan's grandfather was wearing a shroud!
It's not something a living person should be wearing!
I stammered, “Shao Lanxuan, your grandpa... he…”
Realizing my presence, Shao Lanxuan's grandfather narrowed his eyes and looked at me with a smile.
“Lanxuan, who is this?”
Although his facial expression could be described as kind and gentle, I felt goosebumps all over.
A cold chill went straight from my feet to my spine.
Shao Lanxuan seemed not to notice my abnormality, and introduced me to his grandfather.
“Grandpa, this is Shen Tong, we've known each other for a long time. We were classmates in kindergarten in the countryside.”
“Oh, so you're classmates.”
I said hesitantly, “Hello, Mr. Shao.”
Mr. Shao nodded.
Shao Lanxuan went to help him. “Grandpa, are you tired? I'll help you back to rest.”
Mr. Shao waved his hand and said to us, “Go ahead and have fun, you're going to fly in a few days, have you packed everything?”
Shao Lanxuan nodded. “Everything is packed, you can rest assured.”
Mr. Shao's sharp eyes narrowed slightly. He patted Shao Lanxuan on the shoulder and turned to walk towards the back hall.
I watched Mr. Shao's retreating back, and I seemed to see a dark, ominous aura enveloping him, like a giant, monstrous beast in the distance, almost swallowing him whole.
I secretly gripped Shao Lanxuan's sleeve.
Sensing my oddness, Shao Lanxuan finally realized something was wrong with me.
He furrowed his brow and asked, “Shen Tongtong, what's wrong with you today? It can't be that you're sad to see me leave the country, can it?”
He was quite self-aware. We're not that close.
But I didn't dare say that at Shao Lanxuan's house, so I dragged him outside.
“Who says it's not? Aren't we good friends? Of course I'm sad to see you go! Come on, let's go get some milk tea, it's on me. We'll have a long chat.”
11.
Shao Lanxuan was confused, but he let me push him out.
It wasn't until we were outside Shao Lanxuan's yard, far enough away, that I could breathe a sigh of relief.
Shao Lanxuan was being dragged by me, his face was a little red, and his palms were getting hot.
“Shen Tongtong... you... slow down…”
I pulled him into a milk tea shop, ordered a cup for each of us, and told him seriously:
“Young Master, your grandfather isn't right.”
Shao Lanxuan was holding his milk tea, about to take a sip, but he froze when he heard me.
“Wh... what do you mean?”
I plunged the straw into the milk tea cup and said to Shao Lanxuan, “Your grandfather is wearing a shroud, I suspect he's already dead.”
Shao Lanxuan's grip on the milk tea tightened suddenly.
With a ‘bang’, he squeezed the milk tea cup and it exploded. Milk tea and toppings splashed all over him.
I quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe him down.
“What are you doing? If you don't want it, give it to me! I'll drink two cups…”
Since I was reunited with my parents, I've become a little more sophisticated and I know that Shao Lanxuan's clothes are expensive.
But Shao Lanxuan held my hand tightly.
“What did you say? What did you just say?”
Seeing his agitated look, I sighed.
“I know you might not be able to accept it right away, but don't get excited, let me tell you carefully.”
Then I told Shao Lanxuan about seeing his shadow figure today, and about the woman on the phone.
After listening, Shao Lanxuan turned his head back in tears and asked me excitedly, “What about now? Are they there now?”
I shook my head. “You can't see them all the time.”
Shao Lanxuan cried very hard, and then he told me his story.
It turned out that shortly after Shao Lanxuan was born, his father went to pick him and his mother up from the hospital, but they had a car accident on the way.
His parents died in the accident, and he, because his mother had held him tightly in her arms, was saved.
The fortune teller said he had a hard birth chart, that he would bring misfortune to his parents, and that he was at risk of dying young.
His grandfather didn't believe it at first.
But when he was one year old, he almost got hit by a falling chandelier.
When he was two years old, he was playing in the garden and almost died from a snake bite.
When he drank water, the cup would inexplicably crack and he would be scalded by hot water.
When he ate, he would choke on peanuts.
Even when he walked properly, he would trip and fall on flat ground.
His grandfather was scared and believed the Taoist's words. He raised him in the countryside with his distant relatives, away from their home, and kept him safe until he was old enough to go to elementary school. Then his grandfather brought him back.
I was shocked. “I only knew you were a bit unlucky, but I had no idea you were this unlucky.”
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