Cheng Yu x Jiang Siyu ②

He stared blankly at the fingerprint, a strange chill creeping down his spine. Just as he was about to reach out and touch it, he suddenly felt a cold sensation in his stomach.

This time he reacted very quickly. When he looked down, he saw his school uniform jacket rolling up, and the five light red finger marks were moving little by little from the center of his stomach to his waist, as if an invisible hand was pinching him through the air.

Cheng Yu was so frightened that she shrank back, dropping her phone onto the bed sheet.

A ghost! A ghost is touching him!

He panicked so much that his limbs went weak, and just as he was about to rush out through the curtains, he was held down firmly by an invisible force. He staggered back onto the bed, trying to struggle to get up, but his limbs felt like they were nailed to the bed board, and he couldn't move them no matter how hard he tried.

His eyes reddened with anxiety, and he tried to call the school doctor, but as soon as he opened his mouth halfway, he suddenly felt a foreign object in his throat, making it hard for him to breathe. He could only make "uh-uh" sounds.

He strained his eyes, scanning the empty ceiling, but could see nothing.

The force was still tightening, and his clothes had already been lifted up to his chest. He could only watch helplessly as the skin there turned red from the strange touch.

Shame and fear overwhelmed him like a tidal wave, and tears mixed with sweat splattered onto the sheets.

Suddenly, the force increased slightly, and Cheng Yu trembled all over, her toes curled up tightly, and even her calves shook uncontrollably.

"Waaah...waaah..." A muffled sob escaped from her throat, accompanied by a heavy crying tone.

He kept his eyes tightly shut, his mind filled with only one chaotic thought: he was going to die, he was sure he was going to be killed by this unseen ghost!

He didn't want to die. He hadn't eaten the cola chicken wings his mother was making tonight, he hadn't finished reading the comic book he borrowed yesterday, and he hadn't surpassed Jiang Siyu, that bookworm. He didn't want to die... Waaah...

He did not die after all.

That strange force controlled him for half a class period, touching his entire body, but as soon as the bell rang, the feeling of being bound to his limbs and the sensation of being touched on his body disappeared.

It took Cheng Yu a long time to recover. His hands trembled as he pulled down the shirt that had been lifted up to his chest. When he returned to the classroom, his legs were still weak.

As soon as he sat down, his deskmate leaned over and asked, "What's wrong? Why were you crying after going to the infirmary? Did the school doctor scold you?"

Just as Cheng Yu was about to speak, he suddenly felt a slight touch on his side. He froze, and the words he was about to say were instantly swallowed back.

It's that ghost! It didn't leave! It even followed him back to the classroom! This is a warning to him not to tell anyone what just happened.

He hurriedly lowered his head, covering his face with his textbook, his voice trembling as he tried to appear calm: "N-nothing... it's just... the school doctor's application of the medicine hurt too much, I couldn't help it."

From that day on, he was completely haunted by this ghost.

Anytime, anywhere, whenever that ghost desires, a strange sensation will descend without warning.

Once in the cafeteria, he was eating when that ghost ate his red fruit. His classmates asked him why his face was so red, and he could only lie and say it was too hot.

Another time, during a math class, he was writing a problem at the podium when an invisible force suddenly entered between his legs. He had to dig his fingernails into the blackboard to barely keep his body from swaying.

It gets even scarier at night. The ghost won't let him fall asleep unless it soaks the sheets. Lately, he's been getting up every night to change the sheets, which has aroused his parents' suspicions.

He couldn't take it anymore and started searching online for posts about exorcism. He found a post from someone in the same city saying that there was an old temple in the suburbs where a bodhisattva was worshipped, who was in charge of dealing with evil spirits. Someone who had the same problem as him went there to pray and got better.

He left home at dawn on the weekend and headed to the old temple on the outskirts of the city.

There weren't many people in the temple, but the incense smell was strong. He respectfully kowtowed three times to the Bodhisattva statue, repeatedly praying to the Bodhisattva to drive away the ghost.

Before he could get up, he suddenly felt a familiar touch on his side.

That ghost is following us again! Isn't it said that ghosts can't enter temples?

All his expectations were dashed; he was toyed with by that ghost in the temple for an entire day.

It wasn't until evening that he shakily carried his schoolbag home, tears welling up in his eyes as the wind blew.

Even the Bodhisattva can't control this ghost, what should he do?

On the other end of the phone, Jiang Siyu watched the little figure on the screen emerge from the temple, wiping away tears as she walked home, thinking that she seemed to have bullied Cheng Yu a bit too much lately.

Recently, Cheng Yu's body is covered with marks left by him, and he is always distracted in class. Now he even went to pray to gods and Buddhas. If this continues, he might really be driven to the point of developing a disease.

With midterms just around the corner, Jiang Siyu thought for a moment and decided to give Cheng Yu a few days off so she could use the time to study.