Shen Gu Mirai was an eccentric girl—everyone who knew her said so.
Even though she excelled in both academics and sports at Kyubei Private High School, with charming and sweet looks and a mature demeanor, she couldn't shake off her terrible reputation.
Because this girl had a penchant for supernatural tales and urban legends.
Supernatural stories were actually quite popular among Japanese high school girls, but the key was, Shen Gu Mirai's obsession with such topics was far beyond ordinary.
There was no other reason for it, except that Shen Gu Mirai had truly witnessed a supernatural incident.
It was April of 2015 when she had just started middle school.
At that time, a very famous game was trending among the girls in her class.
The four-corner spirit summoning game.
Being a popular beauty in the class back then, Shen Gu Mirai naturally received an invitation to play the game.
To be honest, Shen Gu Mirai could no longer clearly recall the specific rules of the game; she only remembered clearly that, during the game, someone suddenly let out a sharp and terrifying scream.
Hearing that piercing scream, Shen Gu Mirai instinctively turned her head in the direction of the sound—
It turned out no one was actually screaming; it was just the door being blown open by the night wind.
But under the moonlight, Shen Gu Mirai saw it.
It was a woman nearly three meters tall, her head touching the ceiling.
Her skin was as bright as moonlight.
By the time Shen Gu Mirai noticed, she was already standing behind Classmate A, her scissor-like long fingernails deeply inserted into the person's throat...
After that game, Classmate A transferred schools, and the next news that came was about that person's death—pierced through the throat by a steel pipe inexplicably launched at a construction site.
Thus, Shen Gu Mirai concluded the existence of spiritual bodies in the world and became interested in supernatural horror events.
In fact, Shen Gu Mirai's behavior couldn't be described as a love for supernatural events, but rather a simple childlike curiosity about the unknown, like "1+1=?."
Perhaps, from that day, after encountering an abnormal phenomenon in everyday life, she slowly became somewhat unusual too.
But outwardly, she still appeared as a dignified, mature high school girl.
At least that was how Shen Gu Mirai saw herself.
And it was precisely this dignified, mature high school girl who was now crouching in Lake Park, peering toward Beichuan Si ahead.
Shen Gu Mirai had long planned to investigate Lake Park alone.
Because her sensitive nature felt the same eerie sensation as she had four years ago when witnessing the vengeful spirit.
Her intuition told her there had to be a secret here.
Yet, due to coursework delays, friends' New Year invitations, family trips, and various reasons, she had put it off until today.
"Is that... Classmate Beichuan Si from first class?" Shen Gu Mirai hadn't expected to encounter this person here.
If Shen Gu Mirai had a bad reputation, then Beichuan Si's could be described as "too dreadful to behold."
Although this Beichuan Si classmate had decent grades and occasionally spoke at the morning assembly, those who heard about his deeds would probably show expressions of disdain.
From the few versions Shen Gu Mirai heard, the most likely true version was that Beichuan Si had an unrequited love for a certain female classmate, ultimately stealing her personal items from the locker room while she was in physical education class.
Actually, taking a few pieces of underwear wasn't a big deal.
Shen Gu Mirai thought.
Desire inspires motivation, even if Beichuan Si took all her underwear, it was understandable.
Because he had the ability to take others' underwear.
As long as he could do so without her discovering it, whatever he did with the "spoils" was his rightful prerogative.
Shen Gu Mirai could understand, but that didn't mean she approved of Beichuan Si's mistake of getting caught after taking personal clothing.
To her, it was like a bottle of aged red wine that originally seemed rich and fragrant, only to find out later it had long since spoiled.
"This is an incompetent pervert." Shen Gu Mirai concluded, her beautiful eyes fixed on Beichuan Si's figure.
So what was this incompetent pervert doing now?
Her curiosity surged once again.
As mentioned earlier, she was not a girl who thought desire was shameful; she wouldn't jump out now to criticize Beichuan Si's school behavior, especially when the facts might not even be as the rumors said—
She wouldn't be swayed by gossip; she only wanted to satisfy her curiosity.
Early in the morning, what on earth did Beichuan Si want to do in this place?
The cold wind whipped at Shen Gu Mirai's small face, making her hands and feet icy while leaving a faint blush on her cheeks.
She tiptoed behind Beichuan Si, making not the slightest sound.
Shen Gu Mirai was very confident in her tracking skills; ordinary people wouldn't be able to spot her.
Entering Lake Park, passing swings, seesaws, and circling the lakeshore, Beichuan Si finally arrived at the wooden bridge.
He quickly crossed the bridge, Shen Gu Mirai closely following.
But...
Mist began to rise mysteriously, and Shen Gu Mirai's vision blurred. In the next moment, she found herself standing before a deep and dense forest.
A chill, infused with a strange odor, blew from the forest path, making Shen Gu Mirai's little nose twitch.
She instinctively wrapped her coat tighter, feeling the piercing cold wind seep through her thick gloves, making her fingers stiff.
Unknowingly, she found herself encased by the dense forest.
A choking sensation mounted in her throat.
The shadowy path ahead showed no sign of Beichuan Si, and the way behind seemed cut off by darkness.
Shen Gu Mirai swallowed, sensing the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense.
But she could only muster the courage to push forward.
Beyond Lake Park lay a dense forest, and due to poor maintenance, the road became muddy after the snow melted.
This was a rarely visited place, and without a special reason, Shen Gu Mirai wouldn't tread this dirt path.
On either side were low swaying woods, with barren branches clinging like ghostly claws.
Bearing inexplicable psychological pressure, Shen Gu Mirai walked briskly inward.
At the end of the path, there was nothing, just a stretch cut off by short ornamental trees.
Shen Gu Mirai exhaled a small breath, just about to turn and leave—
But her keen eyes caught a trace of blue hidden on the right.
She turned her head to look.
It was a small shack built from blue, corrugated steel board, weathered and rusted from the elements.
Once again, Shen Gu Mirai's damned curiosity arose.
"What is this?"
Shen Gu Mirai muttered, peering through the gap in the steel panels.
Something was neatly arranged inside.
Row after row, in lines.
In the center of the space stood something very eye-catching.
It was a female corpse, covered in mud and stained with dried blood clots.
The once-unfocused large eyes were staring at Shen Gu Mirai.
Deep forest, a hidden corpse, the girl.
The cold wind howled—