I cultivate the Purple Mansion Golden Elixir Dao on Earth

Perhaps it was because of Su Xu's words that he had a significant impact on himself.

Or perhaps it was just the girl's own emotional state that was causing the problem.

Xu Xiu remained silent until the two returned to the classroom.

I waited until evening self-study started.

Many students left the classroom, leaving only a dozen or so students behind.

Under the bright incandescent light, Xu Xiu sat down next to Su Xu and then returned to her usual self.

"Hey, look at this—"

Xu Xiu nudged Su Xu's waist and subtly waved her phone screen at him.

"Are you feeling normal now?"

Su Xu looked up from his book, but instead of checking his phone, he looked at her first.

"What do you mean by 'normal' or 'abnormal'? I've never changed!"

Xu Xiu blushed slightly and poked Su Xu's abdomen again.

"Show me right now!"

"Okay, okay, I'll check right away... Your fingers are too strong, please be gentle."

Su Xu begged for mercy in a low voice while raising his hands in surrender.

"That's more like it~"

Xu Xiu gave a soft snort and triumphantly placed her phone in front of Su Xu.

That's an app page.

"The Strange Tales of Minjiang... A ghostly figure appears at the scene of the massacre on Elm Road... An old man hangs upside down from a tree on a century-old grave... When the door is opened at midnight, there is nothing outside... A child's figure appears in the peephole with its feet dangling in the air and its face deathly pale... What are all these things?"

Su Xu looked up in surprise and turned to Xu Xiu.

"Hmph, you don't know, do you?" Xu Xiu said smugly.

"Minjiang Ghost Stories is the largest ghost story forum in the area."

"Over the years, it has become quite deserted. I can only occasionally find old ghost stories on it."

"But recently... it has inexplicably made a comeback!"

"...Based on my observation, the number of new posts on the forum has increased dozens of times in the past few days, and the number of replies has increased by an unknown amount."

"So what? You mean?"

Su Xu looked at her speechlessly.

"So I guess there have been more and more ghost sightings lately. There's probably something strange happening in Minjiang City."

Xu Xiu mumbled in a low voice.

"Do you think it's possible that... it's because this is some kind of extremely yin time, a once-in-a-century event, and Minjiang City happens to be located in some kind of yin and evil place... and due to this influence, there have been more ghost stories?"

Xu Xiu's rambling remarks made Su Xu chuckle.

"Your idea is really strange."

Su Xudao

"If you ask me, why can't it be that this 'Minjiang Ghost Stories' was recently sold to some major internet company?"

"Or perhaps the app has sold the rights to some ghost stories that are going to be adapted into movies or TV series?"

"So this website hires people to post in advance to boost traffic and increase commercial value?"

Xu Xiu's eyes widened instantly.

"Your statement..."

She was clearly persuaded, evidenced by her lips that had suddenly opened at the beginning.

But the next second, Xu Xiu immediately put on an angry expression and stubbornly said:

"—That's so unimaginative!"

"But don't you think my explanation is more realistic and more likely than your speculation?"

Su Xu looked at her intently.

"I……"

Xu Xiu was fuming, but couldn't refute it for a moment. In the end, she could only say resentfully:

"Su Xu, if you're so skeptical of ghosts, be careful you don't actually encounter one one day!"

"...Also, I heard that our school campus was originally built on a mass grave, and there have been many ghost stories and eerie tales circulating about it for decades—especially your boys' dormitory. It's said to be the most eerie place on campus, and also above the pits where the most corpses are buried. Don't be so scared you'll wet yourself!"

"well."

Su Xu simply smiled and responded.

"I don't know if the boys' dormitory is haunted, but I know that if you keep going like this, you're probably going to see a ghost soon."

"What did you say?"

Xu Xiu was stunned for a moment, then her eyes widened.

But then she realized what was happening and abruptly turned her head to look behind her.

In the aisle of the classroom stood a man with a forced smile, glaring at her through gritted teeth.

"Xu Xiu, if you want to play on your phone during evening self-study, why don't you go home? Let's not keep those who want to study in the classroom from getting in the way, shall we?"

"...Oh, by the way, remember to come to my office before the pep rally tomorrow morning."

After saying that, he abruptly waved his hand, turned around, and walked out of the classroom.

Xu Xiu opened her mouth, forming an "O" shape. Her face turned deathly pale, and she covered her head with her hands.

"Damn it, didn't this happen again around noon today? Did I get a Mid-Autumn Festival reading today? Su Xu, why didn't you tell me sooner!"

"Why didn't you ask sooner?" Su Xu's lips curled up slightly. "Besides, seeing how interested you were in telling ghost stories, I couldn't bear to interrupt you."

Seeing the girl holding her head in frustration, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile.

……

As night deepened and everyone returned home, those living on campus went back to their dormitories.

Minjiang No. 3 Middle School is still a high school in Minjiang City.

Although schools have put in a lot of effort to improve college entrance examination scores over the years, they still do not require students to live on campus, and it is common for students to commute to school.

Moreover, the higher the grade level, the more students commute.

Su Xu benefited greatly from this.

Although he lived at school, when he first entered high school, his roommates filled the six-person dormitory to the brim.

By the time they reached the second year of high school, only three people remained in the dormitory.

Then, in their senior year of high school, two more students, unable to bear the atmosphere of spending all day at school, chose to commute home.

In the end, he was the only one left in the dormitory.

This made Su Xu breathe a sigh of relief.

Although some students might choose to apply to live in the same dormitory room as other students staying on campus under these circumstances, it would be more lively when they come back at night.

But of course he wouldn't do that.

As a top student, Su Xu also has the option to stay in a single dormitory room.

After all, Su Xu's interactions with people are always lukewarm; he is neither competitive nor aggressive, and it is also difficult for him to deliberately get close to others.

Apart from Xu Xiu, his relationships with any other classmates were generally between 50 and 60 points.

It's the kind of relationship where you can talk, even exchange a few jokes occasionally, but you'll never invite each other to birthday parties or have any social activities outside of school.

All I can say is... that's just his personality.

At this moment, lying alone in his dormitory room, Su Xu looked at the ground from the side.

The cool moonlight shone through the curtains on the door and spilled onto the floor, as bright as a pool of water, reflecting off a long strip of bright white floor tiles.

The entire dormitory was unusually quiet.

This silence usually brought Su Xu a sense of peace and comfort.

But today, a chill inexplicably crept into his heart.

Ta-la... Ta-la...

I seemed to hear some strange dripping sound, a very viscous sound that sounded completely different from the sound of rain.

Su Xu shook his head, trying to find the source of the sound, but found nothing.

"Oh……"

Su Xu chuckled to himself, recalling his experiences during the day and his conversation with Xu Xiu during evening self-study. He couldn't help but twitch his lips in a self-deprecating manner.

"Could I have actually listened to those ghost stories Xu Xiu told?"

He lay on his side on the bed, gently shaking his head, but his gaze remained fixed on the spot on the ground illuminated by the moonlight outside the window.

This was a scene he had long been accustomed to, but tonight it inexplicably made him feel somewhat uneasy.

I can't sleep...

Normally I would have felt sleepy by this time, but I felt none at all.

strangeness……

"...Logically speaking, I shouldn't be affected by such surreal ghost stories."

"...So there's only one answer—because tomorrow's college entrance exam pep rally reminded me of the exam itself, and the pressure of the exam is approaching, causing me to feel anxious, to the point that I started to shift my attention to ghost stories and supernatural things. Essentially, it's a form of escapism."

Su Xu began to calmly analyze himself.

"Therefore, the best way to combat this avoidance mentality is to memorize vocabulary!"

"Use actual learning activities to combat your emotions—let yourself know that you are making an effort, thereby alleviating anxiety!"

Su Xu immediately made up his mind.

Do it when you think of it!

He propped himself up and prepared to get his vocabulary book from his schoolbag at the corner of the bed.

But just as he propped himself up, his movements suddenly froze.

Because at this very moment, at the edge of his field of vision, in the area of ​​the ground illuminated by the moonlight, something strange seemed to be emerging from the edge of the pale white floor tiles.

A touch of color appeared at the edge of that tile.

That is--

Su Xu slowly turned his head away.

It was a very pale, light color.

It's like a drop of wax melted on the ground.

But then, a second drop fell.

Ta-la.

Then came the third drop.

The fourth drop...

Su Xu's gaze froze.

That's not an illusion.

Something was indeed falling, drop by drop, from beyond the edge of those bright white tiles, from the unseen darkness.

Fifth, sixth, seventh...

...until finally, it mixed into a thick, sticky, dark yellow pool!

It is cloudy in color and has an oily sheen on its surface.

Although it was on the edge of the bright white moonlight, it seemed to have tainted the entire moonlight, so much so that Su Xu's gaze was slightly stinging!

Su Xu felt as if a chill suddenly exploded on his back.

In that instant, he finally understood why the "drip-drip" sound he had just heard sounded so different from the ordinary dripping sound.

Because that wasn't water to begin with...

It's oil.

That strange sound is only made when grease drips onto the ground... a sticky, dense sound!

Su Xu's back was pressed tightly against the wall.

At that moment, he was incredibly grateful that although he was the only one left in the dormitory, he was in the upper bunk instead of the lower bunk.

Otherwise, that patch of corpse oil would probably be right in front of us by now.

However, Su Xu soon realized that he had been too quick to be thankful.

Because in that small pool of thick, greasy oil, two strange things suddenly floated to the surface.

Two dark green, sheet-like objects.

It's a bit damaged and corroded.

At first glance, they floated on the surface of the small pool of oil, appearing so tiny.

At first glance, Su Xu couldn't even tell what it was.

But soon, more and more similar things surfaced one after another.

...two pieces.

...three pieces.

...three pieces.

There are ten pieces in total.

Ten small, flaky pieces...

They are not floating haphazardly.

Instead, they were arranged in an extremely orderly fashion on the surface of that pool of grease.

It's as if something that should belong to the same part is slowly wriggling and revealing its outline through a layer of oil film.

That thing is...

Su Xu's pupils suddenly contracted.

In an instant, he understood what he was seeing.

—That's something he sees every day.

—It is something that everyone is born with.

Because of these ten sheet-like objects...

They're all fingernails!

It's a toenail!

It's unknown how long it's been buried underground. It first falls off the surface of the body, then continues to rot in the soil, is eroded by fungi, and eaten by insects... eventually turning into a dark green, broken toenail!

That's why Su Xu was instantly jolted when he saw that toenail.

At that moment, he finally understood... what exactly the grease that appeared at the edge of that patch of moonlight was.

That is……

After the dead decompose...

The secreted corpse oil!

Su Xu stared blankly at the pool of corpse oil.

However, the ten toenails began to lift upwards.

It's not because the oil price has risen.

It wasn't because something was pushing against it from below.

Instead, something slender, curved, resembling "toes," was slowly rising from beneath the pool of corpse oil.

First, there was a blurry shape.

Next, there are the prominent joints.

Then, there's the skin and flesh wrapped around the joints, swollen and rotting from being soaked in water.

But the skin and flesh were no longer the color of a living person.

It was whitish, tinged with purple, and also had a hint of burnt black and yellowish-green...

...yet it lacked the vibrant red of humankind!

Section by section, it bulged out of the corpse oil!

Segment by segment, gradually reappearing from the corpse oil...

...a dead man's toe!

Su Xu stared at this scene, his heart filled with fear.

First came the corpse oil, then the toenails, followed by the gradually growing, rotting toes...

what's next?

What will happen next?

...the soles of the feet?

...Both legs?

...Even the entire corpse of a dead person?!

So what happened in the end?

If a completely rotting dead person were to actually rise from that pool of corpse oil and appear before you in its entirety, what would you encounter?

In an instant, Su Xu felt his mind explode with a "buzz".

At times like this, many people might cower in a corner, trembling, or even cover their heads with a blanket.

But Su Xu's choice was completely different.

"...Screw you!"

Su Xu suddenly roared and jumped out of bed, shaking the bedposts violently with both hands, causing the entire bunk bed to lurch downwards.

The metal beds in these schools weren't very stable to begin with; you could feel the whole bed trembling if you jumped on them. When he shook it with all his might, the entire bed frame collapsed violently downwards.

Boom!

The iron bed emitted a piercing, loud noise.

Using the momentum from the bed frame's sudden drop, Su Xu leaped towards the door, slammed the light switch, and simultaneously slammed into the door, yelling:

"what!"

……

"You two are truly a hidden dragon and a phoenix chick!"

"One student was telling ghost stories, playing on their phone, and using random apps during evening self-study, completely disregarding the fact that they were a senior in high school."

"Another one went crazy in the middle of the night and almost knocked over the entire bed, waking up students on at least three floors!"

"You two... what am I supposed to say to you?!"

"Xu Xiu, I can let you off the hook. But you, Su Xu—you're clearly a promising talent for Tsinghua and Peking Universities, how can you act like Xu Xiu and act so recklessly?!"

In the teachers' office of Minjiang No. 3 Middle School, Fang Hexiang, the homeroom teacher of Class 35, looked at the two students in front of him, a boy and a girl, and slammed his fist on the table in exasperation, scolding them harshly.

Hearing her homeroom teacher's words, Xu Xiu pursed her lips, shrank her chin, and muttered something under her breath:

"What do you mean by 'I'? Fine..."

Su Xu, standing to the side, despite having dark circles under his eyes, lowered his head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Teacher Fang."

"Last night, while I was sleeping, I accidentally lost my balance in my dream and ended up falling off the top bunk along with the bed frame."

"...I am willing to pay for any damage to school facilities, whether it's a metal bed or a dormitory door."

He paused here, then continued:

"However, I now feel that living alone in a dorm room seems a bit unsafe."

"So... how about I change dorm rooms starting today and live with some other students?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiu glanced at him in surprise.

Fang Hexiang touched his chin, his tone softening considerably.

"It's enough that you recognize your mistake. As for compensation... why would the school care!"

"Since it was unintentional, I'll just tell the academic affairs office about this small amount of money."

"Also, if you want to move dorms, please move to another dorm tonight. I'll talk to the dorm supervisor after the pep rally."

"Thank you, Teacher Fang."

Su Xu nodded with great shame.

Fang Hexiang smiled slightly.

"As long as you students are in school, your most important job is to study."

"If you do well in your studies, no matter what happens, your teachers and the school will be willing to help you."

"If you have any requests, or if there are any things you're having trouble adjusting to in your studies or daily life, you can tell the teacher. Don't worry about it."

Hearing this made Xu Xiu feel a pang of jealousy, and she couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

"Sigh, good students still have human rights."

Fang Hexiang immediately glared at her.

"What are you talking about? All students in school are equal, it's just that good students are more equal than bad students."

"Xu Xiu, if one day you can achieve a score above the Beijing cutoff for mock exams and rank in the top ten in the city's comprehensive exams, then even if you look at those weird and wonderful things in class, the teachers will turn a blind eye and might even laugh and talk about those things with you... Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Xu Xiu nodded helplessly in agreement.

"Alright, you two, the pep rally is about to start, get to the playground right now."

Fang Hexiang waved his hand and shouted with great momentum.

The two then went their separate ways.

As she walked out of the office toward the playground, Xu Xiu looked resentful, clearly still thinking about what Fang Hexiang had just said.

But after a short while, she seemed to remember something and mysteriously approached him, poking Su Xu's waist as she walked.

"Hey, Su, you're such a top student. How could someone like you make such a racket in the middle of the night? And you even offered to change dorm rooms and live with someone else. What's wrong? Did you suddenly change your personality?"

Looking at Xu Xiu's curious face, Su Xu's eyes flickered slightly.

Last night, after he suddenly acted and made such a commotion... the eerie phenomenon in the moonlight suddenly disappeared.

It was so easy that he almost thought it was just his imagination.

But Su Xu naturally wouldn't think that way.

In fact, even now, whenever he thinks about that incident, a deep-seated fear still wells up inside him.

Before being taken to the teachers' office today, Su Xu had thought it over carefully.

—Regarding such a terrifying and eerie matter… in the entire school, perhaps only Xu Xiu, who is usually enthusiastic about this and likes to collect supernatural tales and all sorts of strange stories, can be of some help to him.

Besides, I only encountered the ghost story after listening to her ghostly tales during evening self-study yesterday.

but……

But then again...

Given Xu Xiu's personality, if he heard himself actually say that, his first reaction would probably be to burst into laughter, laugh at himself, and gloat over him.

It was precisely because he was Xu Xiu's childhood friend and understood her personality and temperament so well that Su Xu had some reservations in his heart.

So he became hesitant when speaking:

"Um, I..."

He hesitated for a moment, then gradually introduced the main topic with a gentler approach.

—But at that moment, Xu Xiu's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had guessed the truth.

"Su Xiaoxu, I'm telling you... that dream you had last night, it wasn't a nightmare, was it? Hahaha!"

"Could it be that you were really scared after hearing my stories during evening self-study last night, and that's why a female ghost came to take revenge on you in your dream?!"

"If that's the case... hahaha! It's just like a bedwetting child!"

Xu Xiu burst into laughter.

Su Xu gritted his teeth, but immediately made up his mind.

"Stop joking, Xiao Xu."

"I really did accidentally shake the bed off the floor in my dream. Even when I later said I wanted to change dorm rooms, it was only for safety reasons—after all, everything is for the college entrance exam, and good health is a necessary guarantee for college entrance exam results."

At this point, he gave Xu Xiu a cold, sidelong glance.

"As for you, Xiao Xu... you should think more about your future grades."

The two had already reached the playground, where the class's lines had formed a long queue.

After saying that, Su Xu ignored her and walked to the back of the class line with his neck stiff and stood there.

After hearing these words, Xu Xiu stood there stunned and blinked.

She watched Su Xu's retreating figure and slightly opened her mouth.

Given Xu Xiu's usual personality, she would have been furious upon hearing such words.

But there was no anger in her eyes, only confusion and worry.

"...Strange, this doesn't sound like something Su Xu would normally say."

"...You...did something really strange happen?!"

Thinking this, Xu Xiu bit her lip and chased after Su Xu's back, also standing at the end of the line.

"Hey, Su Xiaoxu, is something really wrong?"

Amidst the surging crowd, the pep rally was about to begin, and the teams from each class were almost fully formed.

As Xu Xiu obediently took her place, she secretly tugged at Su Xu's sleeve and whispered a question.

"Nothing's wrong."

Su Xu didn't turn his head and said coldly.

"Sorry, I didn't realize it just now, I just wanted to make you laugh."

"...But if you really run into any trouble, tell me quickly, and I will definitely find a way to help you."

Xu Xiu continued speaking softly.

"..."

Su Xu did not answer immediately.

Just as Xu Xiu was about to continue asking questions, the teacher who had been patrolling nearby glanced at them sideways.

"Students of Class 35, the pep rally is about to begin. Don't talk or move around!"

Amidst the gazes cast upon her from all around, Xu Xiu pouted in resentment.

"...Tch, Su Xiaoxu, who cares about you? You can go die if you want."

Filled with resentment, she shifted her gaze away from the cold, hard back of the boy in front of her.

But after a while, my gaze involuntarily lingered on the back of his head again.

"...Never mind, I'll apologize to him and ask him properly after the rally."

Xu Xiu's heart softened again.

School leaders and key teachers have already walked up to the platform one after another.

As everyone could have imagined, the first thing to happen was the usual speech segment.

It's obvious that what follows will be another long and tedious speech.

Xu Xiu had never been interested in such things, so she simply closed her eyes.

She listened to that emotionless speech, as dull and tasteless as chewed gum, yet one that the speaker thought was very impressive:

"Dear teachers and students, we gather here together... to strive for a bright future, and to achieve outstanding results for Minjiang No. 3 Middle School this year..."

The school leaders kept mumbling their words, but their voices were as inaudible as a mosquito's buzzing, which only made Xu Xiu more and more annoyed and feel that it was pointless.

But suddenly, she heard some strange noises mixed in with the "buzzing of mosquitoes".

Moreover, the noise grew louder and louder, eventually turning into discussions of surprise and panic.

"What's this... fog?"

"What a strange fog..."

"Wait, those..."

Xu Xiu suddenly opened her eyes, only to find that her wrist was being tightly gripped by the young man in front of her.

It was Su Xu.

His face was solemn, his eyes scanning the surroundings, and he gripped her wrist tightly.

Before Xu Xiu could even feel happy about it, her gaze followed the boy's and she immediately understood the reason for the commotion.

"This is……!"

Xu Xiu's gaze swept around in disbelief.

At this moment, everything in sight was covered by a thick, sticky layer of color.

Beyond three steps, apart from that colored substance, nothing else could be seen; only the noisy voices of other students and teachers could be heard.

As for the color—

But it was all white, obscuring the eyes.

And that white...

It was a thick, rice-oil-like substance that made it impossible to open one's eyes...

...Fog!