Chapter 116 Cui Zhe doesn't dream much normally; after class every day, he helps his grandmother pick up trash...

Cui Zhe doesn't usually dream much. After finishing his classes every day, he helps his grandmother collect trash, so he gets plenty of exercise and usually falls into a deep sleep as soon as he lies down in bed. Today was no exception. However, after falling asleep, he started having a dream—a nightmare, no less.

In his dream, just like the past few days, he incited his classmates to bully Zhang Shuyao.

His method was simple and completely flimsy; he simply complained to his pitying classmates that Zhang Shuyao looked down on him. He casually made up a lie, saying that once when he was helping his grandmother collect garbage, he asked Zhang Shuyao for a mineral water bottle, but Zhang Shuyao threw the bottle far away and mocked Cui Zhe and his grandmother.

Hearing this, those students, driven by a sense of "loyalty," stubbornly believed that Zhang Shuyao was a bad person without even verifying the facts, and then bullied Zhang Shuyao with their "righteous indignation."

In reality, if they simply confronted him or asked him a few questions like "When and where?", they would have discovered that he couldn't explain himself and was easily exposed. It was a clumsy lie.

Unfortunately, no one bothered to verify the facts, and they simply chose to "sanction" Zhang Shuyao.

In his dream, Cui Zhe was doing just that. He watched Zhang Shuyao being bullied by her classmates and was overjoyed. He even kept saying to himself, "You deserve it. Blame your dad if you have to."

In a cheerful mood, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and prepared to go home. But for some reason, he entered a dimly lit corridor that seemed to have no end. Cui Zhe had already sensed something was wrong and wanted to turn around and leave the alley.

But it was too late.

Just as he was about to run, Cui Zhe realized his leg was being grabbed. He looked down abruptly and saw a middle-aged man lying on the ground, his face covered in blood, his hand tightly gripping his ankle. As Cui Zhe looked down, it... or rather, it, also raised its head.

It could no longer be called human; its eyes bulged out of their sockets, like those of a dead fish, devoid of any color, merely reflecting Cui Zhe's appearance. Blood trickled down its forehead, and the blood vessels gave its deathly pale skin a touch of life.

It moved its mouth as if it were saying something.

What terrified Cui Zhe was that this man… he had seen the photo. It was a photo they had somehow obtained and posted in the group after they learned who the suddenly disappeared donor was! The man in front of him, who didn't look like a living person, looked exactly like the one in that photo!

After Cui Zhe realized who the man was, he clearly heard what the man was saying: "Why did you do this? I died so tragically because of you all, why did you treat my daughter like this?! What did I do wrong that you would do these things! I hate it so much, I hate it so much! I want you to come down and be with me! Be with me!"

As it spoke, its other hand climbed up Cui Zhe's pants. Cui Zhe felt a strong force come at him, and he was pulled down to the ground by the force, and then he felt the man's inhuman temperature.

It was icy cold, devoid of any warmth; the chill that gripped his ankle sent shivers down Cui Zhe's spine, causing cold sweat to trickle down his body. The man, however, pulled on his clothes and slowly climbed up because he had fallen, finally pressing his dead-fish-like eyes tightly against Cui Zhe's face.

"Come down and keep me company! That way, no one can bully them! No one!"

"Ah!" Cui Zhe screamed, waking up from his dream. He was drenched in cold sweat. At that moment, he realized that everything that had just happened was just a dream. This made him relax, but he still couldn't help trembling and gasping for breath.

Because everything that just happened was so real, he couldn't tell whether it was a dream or not.

He was even a little scared; this was a dream, and the ghost might suddenly appear in front of him from under his bed or outside the window. But thankfully, at that moment, with a click, the light came on, and the light from outside shone through Meng Feng's window. His grandmother was knocking on Cui Zhe's door: "Zhe, are you alright?"

Cui Zhe calmed down and said to his grandmother, "It's okay, I just had a nightmare. Grandma, you should go to sleep early, I'm going to sleep too."

Grandma agreed and then left. Shortly afterward, the lights went out.

Cui Zhe sat on the bed and thought for a while. He comforted himself: No, it's just a dream. That man just stopped donating. He's not really dead. How could he possibly come and take me to be with him? With that thought in mind, Cui Zhe lay down on the bed after a while, ready to go back to sleep.

But after such a vigorous activity, he tossed and turned for a long time without falling asleep. Two hours later, after counting sheep for a long time, he finally managed to hypnotize himself and drift off to sleep.

But... a short while later, he woke up again from that nightmare. He wasn't the only one like him tonight.

Li Xia was busy all night, only finishing just before dawn. She opened her eyes, turned over, and blew out the candle. Qiao Yanyu, who was asking He Zhao a million questions, started explaining again: "She did this because she was afraid that some ghosts would also see this guiding light and sneak up behind her, so she had to turn it off once they came back."

"Ouch."

That night, Qiao Yanyu and Wang Yu weren't just sitting around doing nothing. Several ghosts had indeed discovered the unclaimed body and wanted to take advantage of Li Xia's absent-mindedness to possess it. Fortunately, Qiao Yanyu and Wang Yu were both skilled, and they eliminated every ghost with such intentions.

Li Xia was still a little excited after getting up. She usually used dream-entry magic to communicate with investigators remotely. There were some things that were inconvenient to communicate via mobile phone because modern society is developing so fast that some ghosts would directly reside on mobile phones, and some things might be known by the mobile phone ghosts.

In this situation, Li Xia's dream-entering technique was an excellent means of transmitting information over long distances. In ancient times, many prominent families would also employ sorcerers like Li Xia specifically for intelligence communication.

So, entering someone's dream to scare them was actually a first for Li Xia. She never imagined she had such a talent for it. Li Xia couldn't help but exclaim, "Maybe I'm more interesting as a ghost than as a human!"

Qiao Yanyu glanced at Li Xia with a hint of threat in her eyes. Li Xia, sensing this, said somewhat sullenly, "I was just saying, joking. I really didn't intend to become a ghost."

Qiao Yanyu's aura was too strong; a small fry like Li Xia couldn't withstand it at all. However, after Qiao Yanyu looked away, Li Xia started rambling on and on. It seems that pretending to be a ghost to scare people is really addictive: "I'm not bragging, but I acted really well. I scared those little guys so much they were screaming. I guarantee they'll definitely meet up tomorrow, and when they do, they'll all have dark circles under their eyes."

After she finished speaking, she still seemed a little unsatisfied: "When can we pretend to be ghosts and scare them again? Can we do it tonight? I have to work tonight, but I can ask for leave. I have several days of leave that I haven't used yet, and I can take them all this week!"

Li Xia's words were completely devoid of the polite, worldly demeanor she displayed when exchanging pleasantries with He Zhao earlier; instead, they revealed her genuine enjoyment of pretending to be a ghost and scaring people. Even Wang Yu couldn't help but wonder, "Is pretending to be a ghost and scaring people really that fun?"

Li Xia smacked her lips: "How can I describe this feeling? You wouldn't understand."

"..." For the first time, Wang Yu felt that her family's unique skills might not be as good as Li Xia's.

"Okay, I'll come find you again tonight. We're going back to catch up on some sleep now."

Li Xia was still a little reluctant to leave: "Then remember to come tonight, I'll be waiting for you." So, pretending to be a ghost to scare people can be addictive!

Back home, He Zhao was indeed sleepy. She yawned, and Qiao Yanyu, seeing this, prepared to say goodbye and go to their respective rooms to sleep. But He Zhao didn't let her go. She reached out and pulled Qiao Yanyu to her side, pouting as she said, "I need a kiss before I can sleep."

He Zhao's tea scent was practically overflowing, but Qiao Yanyu was completely swayed by her charms; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so easily controlled by him. She leaned in and kissed He Zhao's cheek, then He Zhao pulled her back and kissed her again before letting her go.

After doing all that, He Zhao continued to whine, "I haven't had much time to spend alone with Sister Qiao all day. Once Sister Qiao is better, I'll make sure Wang Yu gets lost."

Qiao Yanyu couldn't help but smile upon hearing this, but still echoed He Zhao, saying, "Okay, we'll kick her out then."

The two lingered for a while longer, but He Zhao couldn't stay awake any longer and finally went back to her room to sleep. She'd been working until 3 PM lately, so staying up until almost dawn was a bit of a shock. After washing up, He Zhao went back to her room and lay down on the soft bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

She and Qiao Yanyu had already gone to sleep, but unlike them, Cui Zhe had just gotten up. Just as Li Xia had said before, "I guarantee they'll all have dark circles under their eyes," and when Cui Zhe woke up, his dark circles were as heavy as a panda's.

His appearance startled his grandmother. She comforted him, saying, "You need to balance studying with rest. Even though the high school entrance exam is coming up soon, don't overwork yourself. Take some breaks." Cui Zhe had no words to express his frustration. Of course, that wasn't the reason for his dark circles; it was because of the dream he had last night.

Each time he was startled awake, he would dream of that terrifying face again after falling back asleep. This made Cui Zhe suspicious—could it be that Zhang Shuyao's father had really passed away? If so, then it would be understandable that the other party suddenly stopped donating money.

A sense of guilt, regret, and remorse rose in his heart, but more than anything, he was afraid... This dream was very abnormal, as if there really was a ghost, relentlessly and continuously troubling him, really wanting him, the one who had bullied his daughter, to go down and accompany it.

The thought filled Cui Zhe with fear, but he dared not tell his grandmother. She truly believed in such things, and if he did, she would be deeply disappointed in him. Cui Zhe hastily gave his grandmother a perfunctory reply, then slung his backpack over his shoulder and went to school.