Cheng Shuang ran into the bedroom and saw Yumi curled up in a corner of the bed with her head in her hands, and a large bulge appeared on the thin blanket next to her.
Qianli, holding his schoolbag, stared intently at the deformed thin blanket. Just as he was about to throw the schoolbag over, the thin blanket suddenly rose up, like a human of normal height, using its four corners to turn around and pounce hard on Qianli.
Even though Qianli was brave, he was only a ten-year-old child. He was so scared that he kept backing away while clutching his backpack, which blocked the door.
Cheng Shuang nudged him aside with her shoulder, then reached out her hand behind her back, held up the hairspray she had taken from the bathroom, and said with a pout to the empty sheet, "Hello, Junxiong's mom!"
With his other hand, he quickly lit a lighter.
Flames shot out, and the blanket that was about to wrap around it had no time to dodge. The flames instantly burned out a human shape, which twisted twice inside the blanket, screamed, and disappeared.
The burning sheet sat on the carpet like an abandoned object. Before it could ignite a larger fire, Cheng Shuang unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and poured it directly onto the sheet.
Everything happened so fast that it was resolved perfectly in the blink of an eye, just as Yumi looked up.
Yumi shakily got out of bed, ran to Cheng Shuang as fast as she could, hugged her, and said tearfully, "Yuko, it's so scary! Come home with me! Let's go home and let my mom and dad clean it up!"
Chisato, who was equally nervous and scared, couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Fujita, what nonsense are you talking about! Are your parents Onmyoji? What if you bring ghosts home and they get implicated?"
Yumi immediately burst into tears, "What do we do? I'm so scared!"
Cheng Shuang gazed at the bright moon outside the window, somewhat lost in thought. "Haven't you encountered any ghosts or monsters before?"
Yumi sobbed, "I...I did encounter it when I was little, but I've almost forgotten it now that I'm older." She doesn't remember the fear she felt back then, but thinking about it, it probably wasn't too different from what she felt now.
Qianli frowned. "Yuko, have you forgotten? The reason our two families moved and we transferred schools was because of ghosts!"
Cheng Shuang turned to look at him and asked, "Can you tell me more about it?"
Qianli was taken aback, then slapped his forehead. "It's my fault. You were traumatized back then and forgot about that experience."
"Yuko, can you not tell me? I'm so scared!" Yumi pleaded, her face and lips were pale and her head was covered in cold sweat, like a frightened bird.
Qianli looked at her with pity and quietly explained to Cheng Shuang, "When you were taking a shower, I was locked outside. At first, I thought Yumi was throwing a tantrum, but later I found out that something dirty had gotten into the house."
"It...it grabbed my foot and tried to pull me into the blanket." Yumi covered her mouth, clarifying what they didn't know.
Cheng Shuang immediately crouched down and, sure enough, saw a bluish-purple handprint on Yumi's ankle. She reached into Yumi's pajama pocket and found that the talisman inside had turned into a pile of black ash. It was clear that without the talisman's protection, Yumi might not have survived until their rescue and would have been killed by Kayako.
This talisman was drawn by Cheng Shuang in her early days, and its power is quite limited.
"What is this?" Yumi and Chisato craned their necks to look at her fingertips. Seeing the fine dust on them, Yumi hurriedly rummaged through her pockets.
"How come I didn't know I had a handful of dust in my pocket?" Yumi panicked even more.
To appease her, Cheng Shuang revealed part of the truth: "I put it there, the talisman."
Qianli subconsciously reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow talisman. The characters on it were intricate and ancient, exuding a mysterious beauty. He stared in amazement as he examined it closely. "Is this it? No wonder I was able to break down the door."
"I'm out of amulets, what should I do?" Yumi cried out even louder, her shrill voice filled with immense panic. She clutched the black ash, trying to put it back into her pajamas, but Cheng Shuang pressed down on her shoulders, stopping her.
"Yumi, don't be afraid, I have more." She placed the talisman in her hand. "Just get some sleep, and when you wake up the next morning, everything will be fine!"
"R-really?" Yumi clutched the talisman tightly, her face trembling with tears as she asked for confirmation, "Will everything really be alright?"
"Hmm!" Cheng Shuang frowned. She had overestimated Yumi's mental age. She appeared mature, but in reality, she was just a child who couldn't handle any stress. "Eat this half of the candy, sleep for one night, and I promise you'll be fine!"
If Yumi were to calm down, she would definitely have some questions, such as why the candy had to be divided in half, and where the other half went. But right now, she couldn't wait to fall asleep.
Yumi took the milk tablet and put it in her mouth without hesitation. She was too scared to go to bed, so she took over the floor mat in front of her, curled up like a little quail, covered herself with her coat, and kicked the thin blanket far away.
Before long, Yumi's brows relaxed, and she fell into a deep and sweet sleep.
After the incident with the bedsheet ghost, Chisato was also a bit overwhelmed and didn't notice anything wrong with Yumi falling asleep. Instead, she smiled wryly and said, "I really envy her. She can fall asleep whenever she wants. I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight!"
Cheng Shuang ignored it, lifted the gauze curtain and glanced out the window. The Akasaka family's house was dark, and it seemed that Yumi's screams had not affected their sleep.
The same was true for the detached houses across the street; the street was so quiet that not even a dog barked.
"Qianli, do you want to take a nap too?"
She turned around and asked tentatively.
Perhaps because she wasn't actually facing the ghosts herself, Senri's expression was much more normal than Yumi's.
He shook his head firmly, and finally made up his mind to ask, "Yuko, last night, the house I took you into... was it a haunted house?"
Cheng Shuang raised an eyebrow and slowly nodded. Since they had both encountered similar situations, there was no need to keep it a secret.
Qianli bit her lip. "We escaped, but...did you make a deal with a ghost?"
Cheng Shuang was taken aback and asked, "Why would you think that?"
"Because there are rumors that powerful ghosts will not let go of anyone they set their sights on, nor will they let go of anyone who trespasses into their territory, unless someone makes a deal with them."
Qianli pounded her head in self-reproach, "Why was I so stubborn back then? Why did I have to go into that house that looked suspicious!"
"Qianli, now is not the time for guilt. Can you tell me about what we went through? And what is this so-called deal with ghosts and monsters?"
Cheng Shuang's calm voice became the best medicine to wake Qianli up. For some reason, he remembered yesterday, when his friend in front of him led him out of danger and even blocked out the most terrifying scenes for him.
He should have been braver, even though he had always been taking care of Yuko as her older brother.
Just then, something scratched the door. Qianli suddenly looked up and saw a small, dark head squeezing in through the crack in the door. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, hugged the fried rice, calmed himself down, and started telling Qianli about the things he and Qianli had experienced at their old school.
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