Soul Trigger

Chapter 36 Helper
She stared in a daze as the bony claw dragged a severed hand out from behind her. The nails left five marks on the shoulder of her school uniform, and the bloody flesh and bone streaks scratched the side of her face.

The fear gene engraved deep in human DNA erupted almost instantly. Che Li opened her mouth to scream, but Ji Li, who had suffered a loss once, clamped her face at the same time:
"...Now you know how I was brought here, right?"

Che Li was still a little dazed, watching as the bone claws under Ji Li's school uniform crushed the thing into black fragments all over the sky and disappeared, and slowly let go of her face.

Ji Li shook his hands, and the flesh and blood returned to his hands as if time had gone back.

The girl's shrunken pupils gradually returned to normal. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her wrists were still shaking due to extreme fright. She was unable to speak for a long time.

Finally, he sat back on the chair with Ji Li's one hand supporting him, and looked up at Ji Li:
"Is that... a ghost?"

"It's okay to understand it this way." Ji Li nodded:
"It's just the lowest level, so you don't have to worry too much. This level of stuff will at most make your mental state a little worse."

"…There really is such a thing…"

Perhaps the scene just now was too shocking for her. She immediately thought of something and felt dizzy.
"So... the girl who screamed before was also..."

"Her situation is different from yours. She only saw me and didn't see anything else. But it's almost the same. Also, do you have anything unclean on you?"

"… something unclean?"

Che Li was stunned, and quickly took out everything she could and threw it on the table:

“…Which one?”

Ji Li saw that she was obviously frightened:
"You don't have to be so nervous. I told you that the stuff on you isn't necessarily fatal."

Her heart beat faster after she said this.

It may not be fatal, but it still has the potential to be fatal.

Ji Li picked through the pile of junk and took out a campus pass. He felt the residual spiritual essence on it and his eyes fixed -

Evil derivatives.

It is something similar to the missing person notice, and the aura on it is relatively more solid.

"it is this?"

Che Li next to her looked at the meal card with fear in her eyes.

She was thinking about how she had to hold this thing every day to swipe her card to enter school and the library, and her fingers felt itchy.

"Well, there is still some residual spiritual essence on it." Ji Li's hand turned into a bone claw, and with a snap, he crushed it into pieces:

"These things are just pollutants, not real evil spirits."

Even the most despicable "wandering soul" evil creature can directly hurt people, and there is no situation where a severed hand like this one keeps following people.

This severed hand is just a visual manifestation of the spirit of the evil derivative. Of course, the characteristics of the evil derivative have been mentioned before, and it will have the negative effect of increasing negative emotions in ordinary people.

"So, it might not be a good time to go to the cafeteria to chat right now. Should I order takeout?"

"Well... school rules do not allow ordering takeout."

Che Li was still holding the young and promising boy's chest in fear, and for the time being she could not take time to feel sorry for the dead campus card:
"But I don't seem to have much appetite now... Let's go to the student union's activity room. If you're hungry... Just eat mine."

Ji Li: “?”

“…I usually bring my own food.”

Ji Li understood and thought it was reasonable: "Okay."

……

Ji Li followed Che Li, whose steps were still a little shaky, to the reception room inside the Student Union.

This place is closed and quiet, and is used to receive off-campus visitors and school leaders.

Che Li brought the thermos in, locked the door, and handed Ji Li a pair of unopened disposable chopsticks:
"I'm sorry, but student union officers have to lead by example, so takeout is not allowed... I can only treat you to my meal, which I made myself."

“Thanks… It’s not Silla food, right?”

“Uh…” Che Li was a little stunned, “It’s Silla vegetables…”

Ji Li stopped unpacking his chopsticks and his appetite dropped sharply.

He was previously tricked by Kim Misa into eating authentic Silla cuisine, but the table full of kimchi and live octopus left him with a psychological trauma, causing him to suffer from PTSD whenever he heard the word "Silla cuisine".

Noticing Ji Li's face stiffened for a moment, she immediately added:

"But I have grilled frankfurters... and scrambled eggs with tomatoes..."

Then he opened the thermos and took out the packed bowls and plates inside.

"...That's good, I'm welcome." Ji Li breathed a sigh of relief.

In the next five minutes, Ji Li roughly explained to Che Li the existence of evil, but did not reveal too much, just to ensure that the other party's understanding of the world of awakeners was on the same level as the principal and others.

"So the current situation is... there are a lot of evil spirits like you mentioned in the school, and you are actually an exorcist hired by the principal..." Kururi covered her forehead, digesting this information with some difficulty.

"...Then your hand can turn into bones. It's your supernatural power for exorcism...Is this a spell? Or magic?"

Ji Li: "It would be good for everyone if we read less fantasy literature and art."

"I'm sorry... This just doesn't seem real to me right now. But you can see evil spirits, right?"

"You can understand it this way." Che Li looked thoughtful:
"So... the reason you did those things before was because you saw evil spirits? Is this a talent?"

"Before?" Ji Li understood immediately: "You mean before I disappeared?"

Che Li, who had gradually regained her composure, recounted everything that "Ji Li" had done in the past.

According to Che Li, Ji Li used to be a very normal student.

And because she is an international student, she has been pursued by some men and women.

But soon his temperament became strange and irritable. Not only did he have a fight with the sports students at school, but he also beat up his class teacher because the teacher deducted his conduct points.

Ji Li thought about the strange expression on the head teacher's face when he saw him, and it did make sense.

At the same time, "Ji Li" often talked to the air, got angry, suddenly screamed while walking, and ran away, as if avoiding something.

After receiving several punishments, one day during a school activity, he ran to the roof of the government building and wanted to jump off the building. In the end, he was pulled down by the security department and students.

From then on, "Ji Li" became a super plague god and everyone avoided him.

Moreover, due to policy reasons, his residence in Silla is closely related to the school, so it involves the procedures at the embassy and the immigration bureau. His family cannot be contacted, and it is very troublesome to expel him from school.

But even so, after a long time, people would inevitably think too much and think that Ji Li was a person with strong connections, so Che Li had not been very friendly to him just now, and had always maintained a businesslike attitude.

After that, the school arranged for a psychology teacher to give more counseling and psychology lessons, and "Ji Li" gradually changed from an irritable and irritable psychopath to a taciturn psychopath.

After that, he disappeared.

After listening to Che Li's statement, Ji Li basically understood.

His previous incarnation should have been a person with psychic gifts. He saw the evil in this school appear in the world, but no one believed him. In the end, he was gradually driven crazy and suffered from alienated psychological disease. Finally, he was targeted and kidnapped by the Red Whip Society.

He ran away from home and came to Silla. Apart from the annual living expenses, he had no one to rely on. Even though he had talent, he did not meet an awakener to guide him. Instead, he was gradually driven crazy by the frequent evil and flickering phenomena he saw...

Poor child, the only thing I can do is to help you kill all the people of the Red Whip Society and send them to heaven to accompany you, if there is such a chance.

But what kind of family does this kid come from to be able to study in such a school?
Ji Li shook his head:

"Let's get down to business. I've told you the basic situation. I've only been here for half a day, so I have some guesses, but there are still many things that are unclear and there are many doubts."

"If what you said is true, there are many abnormal situations in the school right now. If I have such...unclean things on my body? Then other students should have them too?" said Che Li.

"As you said, this is the part I'm guessing at the moment. You should know that there is a missing person notice for me posted at school, right?"

Ji Li took out the missing person notice that he had folded into a small piece from his pocket and unfolded it for Che Li to see. The graffiti-covered design and the presence of evil spirits made Che Li feel creepy no matter how he looked at it.

"This thing is posted right on the notice board down there."

"...Didn't you just deal with it?"

"In the absence of a breakthrough, these things are clues." Ji Li smiled, "Disposing of the things on you is mainly for your safety."

"Thank you..." Che Li thanked him very seriously, "I was abrupt."

Ji Li put away the missing person notice.

Originally, he did not take the paper too seriously. It was normal for one or two evil derivatives to appear in such a large school with ghosts.

But if Che Li or even the boy who is suspected to be a bootlicker also has this thing, then it would be an abnormality that can be called a "clue".

After telling Che Li this logic, her face turned a little ugly:

"Is there a severed hand floating behind everyone..."

"Actually, it wasn't floating. The hand on you was holding onto your shoulder the entire time, and it was squeezing pretty tightly."

"Thanks for the correction, but you don't need to tell me in such detail..." Che Li's face became even uglier. "If that's the case, if we collect all the pollutants and find the commonalities among them, will we find anything?"

"This is what I can think of where I hope you can help." Ji Li nodded. As expected of a good student, he understood things quickly. "If a large number of students have such items, what kind of reason do you think should be used to collect them together?"

"…This matter cannot be made public even within a small circle, right?"

"Neither you nor I can bear the consequences of making it public."

"I understand...it's indeed difficult. I can think of a solution from the student union's side," Che Li nodded seriously.

"...Are you not afraid now?" Ji Li looked at her as if she was thinking seriously.

"Of course I'm scared, but there's no point in being scared, right?" Che Li forced a smile. "According to what you said, the current situation in school is not optimistic. I'm the vice president of the student union. Now that I know about this, I certainly can't just ignore it and act like an ostrich."

"However, I have no way of telling which things are contaminated. Is there any pattern I can know?"

"Tomorrow I'll give you a little gadget and teach you how to use it."

A few minutes later, Ji Li explained some situations and precautions to Che Liduo, and the two of them walked out of the door one after the other while talking:

"...I am very grateful. If this continues, I cannot imagine what will happen in the future..."

The moment the door was completely opened, Che Li paused when she was thanking Ji Li.

A student union cadre who was bending over to carry things greeted Che Li who came out with a look of surprise. But when he saw Ji Li who followed him out, his hands and face froze.

(End of this chapter)