Alone, Beautifully – Chapter 91
by Little PandaMy Wife (3)
“Burn me?”
“… I just wanted to ask, what is it that you sent me?”
During the class break.
Xu Jiao stood outside the teaching building, deliberately avoiding the bustling path nearby, standing beside a willow tree, she dialed back the number labeled “home” from last night. The person who answered was the original owner’s father, Xu Dashu.
“Why don’t you just open it and see? The master said it was something the person’s son wore closely during his lifetime. By wearing it, he will recognize you as his wife and bless you from the afterlife. Maybe… in the future, your boss will appreciate you, and the teachers at school will like you too…”
The rest were some rambling feudal superstitions, and Xu Jiao moved the phone away from her ear, looking up at the willow tree beside her.
It was the end of spring and the beginning of summer, yet the city was still a bit cold, as if unwilling to be enveloped by the summer heat until the actual solstice. The streets showcased a variety of clothing styles; some people were already in short sleeves and shorts, enjoying the coolness, while others walked by in wool coats.
The willow tree had sprouted new buds, and the willow catkins had gracefully floated over most of the campus in the past two months. Now, they were much calmer, with only a hint of white on the treetops, and the rest a graceful, floating green, presenting a true spring scene.
Gazing at the lush willow tree, Xu Jiao noticed the brainwashing voice in the phone had weakened a bit. She placed the phone back to her ear and impatiently interrupted:
“What is the item worn on the body?”
“Did you send it wrong? Why did I receive a woman’s memorial tablet?”
Xu Dashu naggingly muttered that she should not disrespect her “dead ghost husband.” Since she had taken their money, she must do their work. Halfway through his words, he heard Xu Jiao rudely interrupt. He was just about to give her a few words of remote education when he suddenly realized what he had heard.
“You, you say what?” A man’s rough and weathered voice came from the other end of the phone.
Xu Jiao unhurriedly repeated her words: “I said, why did I receive a delivery that is a woman’s memorial tablet? It says her surname is Zheng, called Zheng Zhiyu.”
“What is this about a surname Zheng? That family also has the surname Xu, and the son was only eighteen when he died. Where does this surname Zheng come from? Don’t talk nonsense with me!” The voice on the other end of the phone inexplicably became somewhat irritable, as if he felt Xu Jiao was deceiving him.
Xu Jiao did not understand what was going on with this old father, and she was too lazy to explain further. She simply said calmly, “Since it wasn’t you who sent it, I will return it to the original address.”
“Don’t send me that kind of strange thing again. Next time, I will refuse to accept it. If you want to make money, earn it honestly yourself. What kind of skill is it to sell your daughter? I’m not your wishing well.”
She spoke in the same indifferent tone, with little emotional fluctuation.
However, in Xu Dashu’s ears, it sounded like this always silent and stubborn daughter had suddenly learned to resist. She used to be content just having books to read, not caring about other things, quiet at home like the air. Now she actually talked back to him?
“… I always said girls shouldn’t read too many books. Now that you’re out, your wings have hardened, and you don’t listen to me anymore——”
“Beep.”
Xu Jiao raised her hand to yawn, set the phone she had just hung up to silent, and directly blocked the number. With slightly moist eyes, she prepared to return to the classroom.
She thought about the remaining money on her meal card.
There were still twenty days until the end of the month, and there was only one hundred yuan left on the card. In her memory, the money in her bank card was all saved from doing part-time jobs, meant for paying tuition, so taking it out for lavish eating and drinking was certainly not an option…
Perhaps because she hadn’t lived a frugal life in the previous worlds, Xu Jiao found herself momentarily without any way to earn money.
Frowning, she prepared to walk towards the main road, following the path back to the teaching building. Suddenly, she stepped on the tree root of this winding big tree, and a slight chill rose at the back of her neck.
Based on the skills she had acquired from previous worlds, Xu Jiao instinctively lowered her body, dodging the whistling wind above her head. She didn’t have time to discern what it was, as another sound of something piercing through the air reached her ears.
Her eyes quickly darted to the source of the disturbance, ready to dodge based on the direction of the attack. However, due to long-term low blood sugar from skipping breakfast, her vision suddenly went black with a burst of golden stars as she crouched and stood up.
In that brief pause, the wind whistled past the side of her face, and immediately, a burning pain spread from the right side of her face near the ear, extending all the way to her neck.
Xu Jiao inhaled sharply.
She raised her hand to touch the side of her face, waited for the golden specks in her vision to clear, and looked up again, finding nothing in front of her. Above her was still the blue sky and white clouds, along with the large willow tree whose branches swayed in the wind.
Using her phone’s black screen as a mirror, Xu Jiao glanced at her own reflection and discovered a red mark stretching from her right cheek to her neck. The skin’s surface was slightly raised and immediately began to swell, as if someone had whipped her with a lash.
What could cause such an injury…
She squinted her eyes, observing the willow tree in front of her.
Suddenly, some legends about willow trees emerged in her mind.
There is a saying that willows planted by the river have the ability to ward off evil spirits; willow branches can also strike ghosts, supposedly making a ghost shorter by three inches with one whip. However, this type of tree is not suitable for planting near homes because of its heavy yin energy, which can trap souls. Those unclean entities especially like to dwell atop willow trees.
Xu Jiao touched the skin near the wound on the side of her face, unable to determine for the moment whether the tree had seen her recent misfortune and wanted to help exorcise evil, or if it was playing a prank on her for some other reason.
In any case.
Her face was quite painful.
Feeling the burning sensation on half of her cheek, Xu Jiao, expressionless, stepped out of the bushes and made a decision—
The culprit causing her such bad luck.
She definitely would not let it go.
“My God, Xu Jiao, what happened to your face?”
“Do you want to take leave and go to the school clinic to have it checked? I just heard your roommate say you fell off the bed last night… Your dormitory has been really unlucky lately, hasn’t it?”
“Yes, Xiaoli just accompanied Qian Ai to the medical office. Do you want to ask the teacher for leave and go too?”
After returning to the classroom, since it was a specialized small class, all the students sitting there were her classmates. The marks on Xu Jiao’s face were too obvious and easily noticed by the girls, who gathered around her with concern, showing friendly classmate affection.
She blinked her eyes, originally intending to get through another class, but upon hearing the content between their lines, she couldn’t help but frown: “Did something happen to Qian Ai?”
While speaking, Xu Jiao looked at the positions of the surrounding old wooden desks and chairs. The classroom was only a small space of a few dozen square meters, and she easily scanned the twenty or thirty people inside. As expected, she didn’t see Qian Ai or Zhou Qili.
“You still don’t know?” A girl sitting in the front row turned her head. She had been secretly eating bread during the class break, and now she gestured to Xu Jiao: “Just now, Qian Ai went to the bathroom. The bathroom in this building is quite old, with a single path leading to the end and a timed flush system. Apparently, Qian Ai accidentally twisted her ankle, stepped into the pit, and inexplicably fell. Fortunately, it had just flushed, so when she came out, it wasn’t too disgusting…”
As she spoke, she picked up the bread she had placed inside the desk, but inexplicably lost her appetite and had to put it back.
Xu Jiao’s expression changed several times. She thanked the female classmate and then walked to the podium nearby. Because her injury was too obvious, the teaching teacher was startled. Upon hearing she wanted to take leave, the teacher hurriedly approved and reminded her to be careful when walking to avoid getting hurt again.
Xu Jiao thanked the teacher, returned to her seat, and casually threw her notes into her backpack. As she slung the backpack onto her shoulder, the strap inexplicably sagged down, as if something heavy and solid was inside.
The girl naturally noticed this, and as she walked out of the classroom, the class bell rang just in time. In the corridor, she saw no more students coming or going. Xu Jiao counted the stairs as she descended, making her way to the open space outside the teaching building. She opened her backpack, and without much rummaging, glimpsed a familiar piece of wood.
It was the wooden tablet she had deliberately left in her bedding that morning.
Xu Jiao: “…”
She pushed the books aside and stared at the dark wooden tablet for a moment, then suddenly spoke: “Was it you that used the willow branch to whip me just now?”
The rectangular piece of wood remained motionless, leaving her uncertain whether it didn’t want to interact with her or simply couldn’t respond.
Xu Jiao wasn’t in a hurry. She stared at the piece of wood for a while, standing in the middle of the road, and slowly said: “The wood used for this tablet looks quite good. It could probably burn for a really long time if used as firewood, right?”
Tablet: “…!”
It suddenly shook inside Xu Jiao’s backpack, as if angered by her words, wanting to protest something.
Seeing that it could respond, Xu Jiao immediately raised an eyebrow and did something that might seem baffling to others. In a low voice, she communicated with the tablet: “Was it you that whipped me with the willow branch just now? Shake once for yes, twice for no.”
The tablet then shook once.
Xu Jiao got her answer and saw students approaching from a distance, hurrying as if they had just learned the teacher would be taking attendance and rushed over from the dormitory. She didn’t pay much attention to them and simply zipped up her backpack, shouldered the rustic backpack of the original owner, and headed towards the school clinic as she remembered its location.
Once no one was around, she patted the backpack slowly with the back of her hand and said in a low voice:
“Next time, don’t come out with me.”
“You’re very heavy, and carrying you is tiring.”
The tablet, deeply resented: “…”
“Xiaoxu… how did you, oh, what’s that on your face…?”
In the school clinic.
Zhou Qili, who had just finished helping Qian Ai with her foot injury, had just walked out and ran into Xu Jiao coming this way. Her eyes first lit up with happiness, but then she noticed the shocking wound from Xu Jiao’s right cheek to her neck.
Xu Jiao herself seemed unconcerned, but Zhou Qili, thinking something unknown, suddenly had her pupils contract. She began to tremble in broad daylight, her teeth chattering. She grabbed Xu Jiao’s hand, pulling her to a more secluded spot, nervously looked around, her throat moved, and she spoke again:
“Xu Jiao.”
“Is, is it about what we did yesterday… yesterday afternoon…”
Perhaps because the content that followed could evoke great fear, Zhou Qili couldn’t bring herself to mention the pen-fairy game, as if afraid some entity might hear and then follow the script to bestow fear upon her.
Xu Jiao understood her meaning and used her other hand to gently pat Zhou Qili’s shoulder, the strength neither too light nor too heavy, like a gesture of comfort. At the same time, she looked into Zhou Qili’s eyes and seriously replied:
“No.”
She said: “A person’s fortune always changes. It’s just that Ai’ai and I have been a bit unlucky recently. Don’t associate it with too much.”
If Zhou Qili and Qian Ai hadn’t been good to the original owner, Xu Jiao wouldn’t have bothered to comfort them. Especially when speaking in a normal tone, the involvement of facial muscles always made the pain on her face more pronounced.
Zhou Qili grabbed her hand and unconsciously increased the pressure. After Xu Jiao spoke, she shook her head and repeated, “No, no, you don’t know…”
“Ai’ai told me, it wasn’t that she slipped. When she was in the bathroom, something grabbed her foot and pulled her down. She screamed so miserably, and just then, I and other classmates were outside. We heard and rushed in to pull her out…”
Zhou Qili’s voice carried a bit of extreme suppression and collapse. She was afraid of speaking too loudly and attracting attention, yet the fear creeping up her spine made her unable to suppress her voice. It was as if if she couldn’t find an outlet for the fear piled up inside her, she would be crushed by this mountain of emotions.
Her nails unconsciously dug into the back of Xu Jiao’s hand, making Xu Jiao involuntarily lower her eyes to look. Before she could stop her, she heard Zhou Qili, with a tearful voice, fearfully ask:
“First it was you, now it’s Ai’ai, is it going to be my turn soon?”
“I shouldn’t have, out of curiosity, pulled you all into playing this game. In horror stories, the one who brings the ghost usually dies. I’m still so young, and the series I’m following hasn’t ended happily. I don’t want to die, wuwuwu…”
Xu Jiao originally wanted to comfort her a bit more, but after hearing the latter part of her words, her whole expression turned into =.=
Without any expression, she pulled Zhou Qili’s hand away from her own hand and casually said: “Don’t worry, it won’t happen.”
Zhou Qili, with tears welling in her eyes, asked her: “How do you know?”
Xu Jiao pulled her sleeve, leading her towards the medical treatment room where Qian Ai was, and casually replied: “Because in there, encountering a ghost might also mean you’re the protagonist. The trend now isn’t for the entire protagonist group to be wiped out. We must have a happy ending.”
Zhou Qili: “…?”
For some reason, hearing Xu Jiao’s words made her inexplicably feel a bit less panicked.
At that moment, Xu Jiao glanced back at her and saw that her deeply obsessed dorm mate had calmed down slightly. She suddenly found it somewhat amusing and couldn’t help but wonder if in real life, among her readers, there were those like Zhou Qili.
Which is “My life might not be sweet, but the couple I support must be happy and joyful.”
After thinking for a moment, Xu Jiao added a more reliable comfort: “Don’t be afraid, even if there really is some dirty thing, it will definitely come for me first. The two of you won’t have any more trouble.”
Zhou Qili, not understanding, asked: “Why?”
A hint of coldness flashed in Xu Jiao’s eyes: “Because I plan to wipe them all out, and I’m currently working to maintain their level of hatred towards me.”
Zhou Qili: “!”
For some reason, although it clearly sounded like a death flag statement, looking at Xu Jiao’s expression at that moment, Zhou Qili unexpectedly felt a sense of admiration.
She thought with a racing heart, is this what a true academic achiever is like? Proficient in everything, even cross-field ghost hunting?
When Qian Ai saw Xu Jiao, she felt a sense of shared sadness like meeting a brother or sister in adversity.
Previously, she and Zhou Qili stayed together, both filled with panic and not daring to go anywhere deserted even for a moment. So she stubbornly sat in the treatment room for a long time, even though the doctor and nurse had told her many times that there was nothing seriously wrong with her foot, just a little abrasion and excessive fright, not even injuring tendons or bones.
But Qian Ai pretended not to hear, thick-skinned, took out her phone, and sat there, feeling the comfort of being surrounded by people, finally pressing down the fear in her heart a bit and regaining some ability to think.
She remembered she had relatives in the city. Thinking of the recent strange occurrences in the dormitory, Qian Ai didn’t dare stay there anymore. She was trying to act cute to her relatives, preparing to hide outside the school, hoping to skip classes to visit temples and similar places to burn incense, watch some rituals, and calm down.
Once Xu Jiao arrived and applied some colorless ointment to her face, Qian Ai shared her idea with her and Zhou Qili, whispering softly:
“Really, I heard that the temple outside the city is very effective… We’ve encountered something evil, and normal methods definitely won’t work. We sometimes need a bit of faith.”
Xu Jiao squinted at her, “Is Marxism-Leninism not appealing enough, or are the core values of socialism not enduring enough?”
Qian Ai: “…”
Xu Jiao’s profound questioning left her at a loss, and she clasped her hands together in a gesture of pleading: “Xueba Xu, you’ve seen our tragic situation these past two days. The ancient saying goes, children do not speak of strange powers and gods. What does this mean? It means that some things are outside the jurisdiction of our Marxism-Leninism. Each field has its expertise, and this kind of thing should be left to the specialists.”
Zhou Qili, in a daze beside them, said: “Can you not have an academic debate on this kind of matter?”
Qian Ai immediately returned to the main point: “In short, I feel that living in the dormitory is too strange. I want to temporarily live off-campus. Are you coming with me or not?”
Zhou Qili showed slight hesitation on her face. It must be said that when it comes to her life, going to a relative’s house with classmates to freeload on food and drinks isn’t something she would normally consider.
She timidly observed Xu Jiao’s expression and softly urged, “Xiaoxu…?”
Xu Jiao calmly responded to her: “If you want to go, then go. I will stay in the dormitory.”
Zhou Qili took a sharp breath, looking somewhat anxious, wanting to persuade Xu Jiao to reconsider, but just as the words were about to leave her mouth, Xu Jiao raised her hand to gesture them to stop and said lightly:
“I am serious.”
“You go live off-campus, it’s fine. No need to feel burdened; this is my choice, and I will bear the corresponding consequences—”
“Since we played the game together, we face the consequences together. No matter what happens, we must all be mentally prepared.”
These few sentences left Zhou Qili and Qian Ai both stunned.
When they returned to the dormitory to pack their things and leave, their eyes held a strange worry and guilt while looking at Xu Jiao, as if they were already certain that her upcoming days would not go well.
Out of some inexplicable sentiment, the two roommates took out their stash of snacks, along with some freshly bought fruits, and said to her: “Xueba, it’s troublesome for us to take these with us, and they’ll expire if left for too long. If you have time, just eat them all.”
Xu Jiao looked at the table full of snacks with amusement, wondering if they were suggesting that if she were to die, she’d at least die a full ghost.
But she did not stop them, just nodded casually. After the two left, she also left the dormitory, heading towards the school gate, and walked to the bus stop.
Still carrying her old-fashioned, faded backpack, the people on the bus didn’t even glance at her, allowing her to reach the most famous local scenic spot.
At the end of spring and the beginning of summer, it’s the perfect season for a garden stroll. A breeze blows across the lake, stirring up ripples, and shimmering light dances over them. Graceful and enchanting willows line the embankment, the sky is blue, the water is clear, the willows are green, and the flowers are red. Everywhere you look, it’s beautiful scenery.
Xu Jiao squinted her eyes against the wind, avoiding crowded places. Instead, she walked along the river embankment to more secluded spots. After steering clear of tourists, she brought her backpack to her front, unzipped it, and decided to make practical use of the piece of wood she had.
“Riverside willow branches can ward off ghosts, you know?”
“Help me find a useful tree. I’ll just break off a slender willow branch, that’s all. Hurry.”
The piece of wood remained still, ignoring her.
Xu Jiao looked around and found that she was standing on a patch of compacted soil, with a nearby area of very tall shrubs. She crouched down, felt around in the compartment of her backpack, and took out a lighter. With a click, she lit it and placed it at the corner of the tablet, innocently saying: “What would happen if my hand trembles?”
Tablet: “!”
If it could speak, it would surely scold Xu Jiao, calling her a despicable **, only knowing how to threaten it, what kind of skill is that!
It trembled with humiliation, trying to jump away from Xu Jiao’s hand to distance itself from the fire. When Xu Jiao put the lighter away, it flew to a nearby willow tree and lay there, motionless.
Xu Jiao understood and followed over: “Is this one okay?”
By the time Xu Jiao returned to the dormitory, it was already noon.
She intentionally drew the curtains, leaving the lights off. Even though the window could catch some sunlight, with the door closed and the curtains drawn, the room dimmed to a semi-darkness. This created a quiet atmosphere suitable for sleeping, though it also felt a bit chilly.
After all, it was a dormitory building halfway up the mountain. Students could almost sleep with quilts in the room even as summer approached because the building was warm in winter and cool in summer. Now that the winter chill hadn’t entirely dissipated and the outside warmth was insufficient, the room still retained some of that lingering cold.
Xu Jiao’s gaze swept around the room, noticing the half-open cabinet door and stacked boxes, but she didn’t bother with them. Instead, she walked straight to her bed, placed her backpack under the quilt, and then lay down herself, closing her eyes to prepare for a nap.
She didn’t know how much time had passed.
The old-fashioned embroidered quilt cover suddenly displayed a patch of rippling red that quickly spread, covering the entire quilt. As it reached the top, black and snow-white colors appeared, outlining the figure of a slender-waisted woman.
Despite clearly being pressed by someone, Xu Jiao, in her sleep, felt no discomfort, as if there wasn’t much weight on her body, until the piercing coldness invaded near her face.
The person with closed eyes originally didn’t move, but just as the red-clothed woman was about to lean down, she suddenly opened her eyes. Immediately, her hand inside the quilt began to move, just about to draw out—
The red-clothed woman, through the quilt, unexpectedly grasped her wrist firmly, appearing to have the ability to penetrate objects and instantly knowing her intention.
In the next moment, Xu Jiao suddenly felt the person on her had gained weight, pressing her to the point of immobility.
The other party leaned in close to her neck, preventing her from seeing their face. The cool breath made the goosebumps rise on her neck. She moved her lips and calmly said:
“Who are you?”
The other party did not answer the question. Her voice, like chilling moss, spread near the skin beneath her injured ear, softly uttering just two words:
“Burn me?”
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