Chapter Thirteen: Here to Find Yourself?

“The number isn’t right!”

Chen Yushu immediately stopped in his tracks, turning his head slowly to look at the communal bed.

It was October, the golden autumn, and the moonlight was still bright. With the door wide open, the silvery light spilled in, allowing him to see clearly what was happening atop the shared bed.

He counted silently, from the head of the bed to each sleeping spot, a total of seven figures.

Seven people.

But he remembered distinctly: yesterday, including himself, there had only been seven in the entire communal bed.

Now, as he stood at the edge, with himself added, there were eight.

So who was the extra person?

He knew for certain that today, no newcomers had joined the pharmacy.

“The one on the far end is Qin Jie, tall and thin, a quiet soul. Next is Xu Hao, the longest resident here, though his temperament is somewhat unruly. Ever since mastering the stance exercise, he looked down on us newcomers, convinced most of us couldn’t grasp it within three months. Then…”

Chen Yushu’s thoughts raced, his gaze suddenly sharpening.

The second figure was not Xu Hao.

The third was Xu Hao.

The second was a ‘shadow’ with a complexion as pale as death, curled up on its side, leaning toward Xu Hao.

Notably, Xu Hao’s posture matched, both curled toward the inside, so close they seemed almost entwined from afar.

They were pressed together.

Xu Hao was deep in sleep, but it was restless—his face bloodless, eyelids twitching, as if trapped in a nightmare.

The shadow had its arms wrapped around Xu Hao, head tightly pressed against him. From Chen Yushu’s vantage, he could faintly see the shadow’s mouth moving, as though muttering, or perhaps swallowing something.

Suddenly, the shadow froze; its mouth snapped shut, and it slowly turned its head, gazing directly toward Chen Yushu.

Startled, Chen Yushu instinctively averted his eyes, shuffled his feet as if removing his shoes, and leaned toward the bed. One hand touched the edge, feigning the act of lying down—then he truly lay down.

The ‘figure’ watched throughout, only lowering its head after a moment, its mouth moving once more.

“Did I avoid it?”

Chen Yushu exhaled quietly.

Then, helplessness crept in.

Another encounter with a ghost.

He hadn’t expected that within such a short time, he would meet three already.

He recalled what Uncle Zhong had said: only those with a ‘divine’ foot could see ghosts. Now, he was increasingly certain that he must be one of those people.

Before, this hadn’t happened—perhaps because his ‘memory had awakened’?

Through these few encounters, he had gleaned some experience.

Whenever he ‘looked’ at them, they always sensed it. These entities were hypersensitive to the gaze of humans and often became interested in those who could see them.

Just like last time—the recently deceased Jiang San from Little Stone Village had lunged at him, precisely because he could ‘see’ the spirit.

Evidently, the same was true now.

His gaze was detected at once, and the ghost turned its attention toward him. Had he not turned away in time and pretended to settle into bed, the ghost might have shifted its focus onto him.

“But why did Xu Hao attract this thing? Was it today, or before yesterday?”

Last night, he’d slept straight through to dawn, so he hadn’t noticed anything.

Tonight, he’d woken halfway through… thinking about how he’d just passed right by it, chills crept over his skin.

Now, whether he stayed or left, it was a dilemma.

If he left, he’d have to pass the ghost again. Having just lain down, then getting up—ghosts, though not always retaining much memory from their former selves, weren’t entirely ignorant. If they possessed even a little ‘intelligence’, they would quickly sense something amiss.

If the ghost switched its target from Xu Hao to him, wouldn’t that be disastrous?

He had no intention of sacrificing himself for another.

“I can’t leave.

But with this thing here, who could possibly sleep? And there’s no way to get rid of it…”

Frustrated, Chen Yushu couldn’t help glancing back.

Perhaps because he was lying down now, he couldn’t see the ghostly figure, nor could it see him. But he could still glimpse that the ghost was holding onto Xu Hao, its half-hidden head bobbing up and down.

He could imagine it—mouth wide, swallowing Xu Hao’s vitality, devouring his life force.

The sight was unnerving.

In the dead of night, a ghost clinging to a living man, endlessly draining his ‘life’.

Anyone would shudder at such a scene.

Time ticked by.

During the night, others got up.

Whenever that happened, Chen Yushu watched the ghost closely.

But the ghost seemed only interested in Xu Hao. No matter how much commotion others made, even passing right by, it ignored them, never loosening its grasp.

Even Qin Jie, sleeping on the other side of Xu Hao, got up once, but did not disturb it.

It was fixated solely on Xu Hao, with no intention of troubling anyone else.

Of course, the others neither saw nor sensed it.

“So it seems, as long as I’m not discovered to be able to see it, I’ll remain safe?”

Chen Yushu hesitated, thinking this might be good news… perhaps?

In the latter half of the night, before the rooster crowed, Chen Yushu noticed the shadow slowly release its grip on Xu Hao, rising quietly.

“It’s leaving?”

His spirits lifted; he dared not stare, watching only from the corner of his eye.

He saw the figure, once upright, glance at everyone in the communal bed. He quickly shut his eyes, and after two breaths, reopened them.

By then, the ghost had left the bed.

But it hadn’t exited the room—it walked along the beds.

Step by step.

Until it reached the edge of Chen Yushu’s own bed.

His breath caught, trembling.

What was happening?

Was it coming for him?

He was bewildered.

Could it have known all along that he was watching?

His body tensed.

Forcing himself to look, he saw the figure bend down—then, with a flicker, it vanished completely.

Gone?

He couldn’t help but prop himself up, scanning the room.

No trace of the ghost remained.

Had it truly left?

Or was it still here?

Now, Chen Yushu truly couldn’t sleep; nor did he dare to bend down and look beneath the bed.

He feared that at the moment he did, his gaze would meet ‘its’ directly.