Chapter 63: You Will Return
The scenery rushed past as the two figures quickly left the riverside, heading toward the southern district of Shanming City.
Inside the taxi, the midnight driver, bored, had turned the car stereo up to an ear-splitting level, playing a slow, soothing melody.
In the back seat, the long-haired man, once handsome but now robbed of vitality by a shadowed aura, held a cigarette between his fingers, staring silently at the night rushing by.
Beside him, a thin, anxious young man gripped a photograph tightly, his eyes fixed on it.
"At Tiannan Drama Academy, I saw a ghost… it should be a ghost…"
His words brought the oppressive atmosphere in the car to a new level. The heavy tension of his voice reverberated through the cabin, causing the driver to glance back, snorting lightly with faint disdain.
The long-haired man made no move, simply rolling down the window and flicking the ash from his cigarette.
"At that time, I went to A-Lian's office with another faculty member.
A-Lian's desk was empty, as if all traces had been erased by some force.
Strangely, the desk across from hers, where another teacher had sat, was also completely cleared.
The other teacher disappeared with A-Lian.
And the ghost I saw was that missing female teacher."
The thin young man spoke softly, recounting the eerie events. His words were chilling, like a tale of urban legends.
Even the initially skeptical driver leaned forward with some interest, sneaking a glance through the rearview mirror. "And then?" he asked.
As the young man finished, the long-haired man, still silent until now, flicked his cigarette butt out the window.
"From this, you concluded that A-Lian and the other teacher weren't merely missing, but dead, even turned into ghosts?"
The young man shook his head. "No. At that time, I didn't understand ghosts well. What convinced me that A-Lian had been killed by a ghost was what happened next."
He coughed lightly, still unsettled by the memory, even though he had truly seen the ghost.
"The faculty member with me said that the office had no staff present. In his mind, neither A-Lian nor the other teacher existed—clearly the terrifying brainwashing ability of the source ghost.
Unconvinced, I searched both desks, trying to prove they had existed.
But I was disappointed—they had been completely erased. As I was about to leave in despair, I noticed the full-length mirror by the door…"
"Through its reflection, I saw a familiar figure, shrouded in black mist. The face was indistinct, but the figure was slender and feminine…
But it wasn't A-Lian!"
"Was it the other missing female teacher?" the driver speculated while driving.
The young man looked up and nodded. "I could only be sure it wasn't A-Lian; I didn't know it was the other teacher.
Then, to my shock, the faculty member with me vanished in an instant! In the real world, I could not see him, but he appeared in the mirror.
He seemed powerless, dragged along by the black mist, and leaped through the mirror window. When it jumped, I saw its face—it was the missing female teacher!"
The young man spoke in one breath, recounting the entire event from a year ago, explaining his relentless search for ghosts. His current request—that the long-haired man accompany him to Tiannan Drama Academy—stemmed from this same desire for verification.
After all, the other missing female teacher had turned into a ghost. What about A-Lian, his fiancée…
"Ji Li, I don't ask for rescue. I only want to see her again, no matter what form she has taken. Even if it costs my life, I must see her once more!"
The long-haired man, called Ji Li, slowly turned to look at the man beside him, so close yet so different.
He could understand risking everything, facing fear and danger, to see a loved one who had become a terrifying entity. Ji Li could not empathize—but he felt a faint stirring in his heart.
"Yu Guo, have you considered that soon, we might return to that university as staff, capturing the source ghost that caused the tragedy, and… avenging your A-Lian?"
"Avenging…"
Yu Guo suddenly looked lost, gripping the photograph of a man and woman tightly.
The woman in the photo was not stunning, but her features held a gentle, dignified beauty.
A tear fell from Yu Guo's eye, landing on her smiling face in the photo, blooming like a flower.
He whispered softly, almost pleading, the words echoing through the car:
"No need for revenge. I don't need that…
I only wish to see her once more. Either let her be freed, or let me go to her…"
Ji Li suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. He disliked the atmosphere intensely; it carried a strange, intoxicating pull that made his rationality waver.
He reached out and rolled the car window all the way down. The biting cold wind rushed in, whipping his hair around.
Outside, a long street of unique architecture stretched ahead, full of retro charm. Countless red lanterns flickered past in a blur as the car sped along.
The street carried a singular aura, drifting into Ji Li's senses and sending a shiver through him.
He studied the scene through the window, curiosity in his eyes. "Where is this?" he asked the driver.
The driver, somewhat influenced by Yu Guo's tense emotions, answered vaguely: "It's a newly built street in the style of the Republic era." He clicked his tongue, glancing at the empty street. The car's movement over the stone pavement made his voice tremble.
"It's fine during the day, but at night, when no one is around, I always feel this retro street is… eerie."
At first, Ji Li dismissed the comment, but as he scrutinized each brick, each red lanterned doorway passing by, a subtle unease crept over him.
This street felt like more than a mere tourist attraction.
The taxi gradually drove away, heading closer to Tiannan Drama Academy. Ji Li silently watched the window, then suddenly turned his head.
At the far end of the Republic-style street, an advertising billboard stood.
In the pitch-black night, the sign's scarlet LED lights flickered with a strange glow. Three words shone across it, reflecting in Ji Li's gray-black pupils:
'You will return…'
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