Without any hesitation, I began sprinting toward the far end of the corridor. I caught sight of a girl on the ground, scrambling away from something in the shadows.
First a pale, almost skeletal limb emerged from the darkness. And then another. Long, black hair, spilling over a contorted head, slowly came into view, as well as a misshapen body. A woman, moving on all fours, scuttling toward the poor girl.
"What the hell is that?!" she cried, paralyzed by fear.
"Oh boy, the ghost has begun taking action…" I murmured, eying the greasy black hair that partially concealed the hideous face underneath. "We're in quite the hairy situation."
Reaching the girl, I grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet before pushing her back toward the corridor. As I did so, I recognized her as someone from the student council. One of Shu Hong Qiu's close associates, if I remembered correctly. Unfortunately, my memory wasn't good enough to remember her name.
"W…who?"
"Not important, just run! This is no longer fun!"
I gave her a little push in the right direction and she took off without further encouragement. I joined her, not intending to remain behind to be food for the ghost. After all, it wasn't my duty to entertain her and be her host.
A low, rattling whistle wailed from the ghost's partially hidden mouth. I caught sight of huge, bloodshot eyes peeking from just behind the curtain of black hair before I turned and ran away. I could hear the rustle as her hands scraped against the ground.
This ghost was really going to be a handful.
"What the hell does Shu Bai Chun expect me to do against a ghost?" I complained. "Does he want me to be her host? To be fair, given my experience, I have it better than most. But I'm sure this battle is lost."
The student council girl glanced at me in astonishment. "A…are you rapping?"
"Don't start napping! Keep on running! That ghost's snapping! Ignore my rapping!"
"PLEASE STOP IT!"
Fine. How stingy. Perhaps she was jealous of my talent. Or maybe my awful voice was more horrific than even the specter who was currently pursuing us. Given how my friends contorted and pressed their hands over their ears every time it was my turn at a karaoke session, I knew which was the more likely possibility.
My horrible rapping didn't turn off the ghost, though. If anything, it seemed to be moving faster, spurred on by my attempts to rhyme. It was almost as if the ghost was determined to silence me.
At that moment, the door to the art clubroom opened, and Lian Hua chose that moment to step outside. She did a double take when she saw both me and the student council girl running, and let out a shriek when she caught sight of the wraith behind us.
"Run!" I yelled, grabbing her just as I passed by the art clubroom a few seconds later. She snapped out of her stupor and followed us. The student council girl, on the other hand, didn't stop. She was way ahead of us by this point.
Pushing Lian Hua in front of me, I made sure to place myself between her and the ghost. Unfortunately, as someone who was more inclined toward arts than sports, she was slow, much slower than the student council member in front of us. She was barely able to keep pace with me, her breaths coming out in short gasps. Soon after, I feared that her running would lapse. Behind us, the ghost continued to mercilessly rasp.
At this rate, we were going to get caught. And all this physical exercise would be for naught.
"What's going on? What's that?" Lian Hua cried. She made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder, but I gave her a push. She tried to ask again, but I hushed her with a shush.
"Just keep running!"
"Where?!" The student council girl screamed.
I glanced around, my eyes settling on the end of the corridor. The stairwell. I nodded toward that direction and gestured frantically.
"The stairs! Run! Hopefully, this ghost is bound to this building and can't leave it!"
The two girls stared at me doubtfully, but bereft of any alternative, they decided to go along for now and headed toward the stairs. Lian Hua stumbled, but I caught her before she fell.
"Go," I told her and roughly shoved her toward the stairs. At that moment, a group of people exited the stairs.
"Shu Hong Qiu!" the student council girl cried out in relief. My head whipped about and I caught sight of Shu Hong Qiu leading three other students from the council up the stairs. They stopped, their jaws dropping when they caught sight of the wraith in wrathful pursuit.
"What the hell is that thing!?"
"A ghost!? Ghosts really exist!?"
Unexpectedly, it was Shu Hong Qiu's reaction that shocked us the most. Unlike the others, she wasn't screaming or panicking. Instead, she shuddered and blinked, disbelief mixing with fear, and shook her head.
"Han Zhi Hui?"
"Huh?!"
Everyone stared at the approaching ghost. I didn't bother because I didn't know who Han Zhi Hui was and had never met her before. But recognition appeared to light up in the student council members' eyes.
"It's really her?"
"What happened to her?"
"Did she die and turn into a vengeful spirit?!"
The ghost snarled, her eyes swiveling to Shu Hong Qiu. She redoubled her pace, launching herself at the Shu conglomerate heiress. Fortunately, the distance was still too far and she fell short. Even so, she had gotten dangerously close to our position, causing us more duress.
"We can come up with theories later!" I yelled. "Let's get out of here first! Otherwise, none of it will matter! She's drowning in bloodthirst!"
Thankfully, they took my advice without hesitation. This crisis was far beyond their station. Unfortunately, Lian Hua wasn't going to make it in time. The specter was literally breathing down on our necks, a chilling gust that made me shudder.
Screw this. I promised Yun Shan that I would look after Lian Hua. Besides, I had already died once before. I wasn't afraid of death. Though I dreaded having to explain to Shu Bai Chun how I ended up returning to the underworld so soon, at least I could hold my head up high and tell him I had sacrificed myself to save his granddaughter.
Sure, I wasn't exactly saving her but Lian Hua, but my act of heroism would indirectly save Shu Hong Qiu's life as well. I honestly didn't care if Shu Bai Chun disapproved, but that was a matter for him to dwell. The thought of everyone revering me as a hero made my pride swell.
Whirling around, I kicked the pursuing specter in the face. The thing that used to be Han Zhi Hui was completely taken by surprise, flung across a huge tract of space. Behind me, the other students kept up the pace. Their urgency was the only thing keeping them in the race.
"Whoa…I really didn't expect that. She fell at the drop of a hat. Honestly, that was sad. Now I feel really bad."
Unfortunately, the ghost had flipped herself over and gotten back on all fours. I had to hand it to her, she was really quick on her feet. I honestly couldn't say that this wasn't a predicament that I foresaw. If I continued to dither, it would lead to my defeat.
So I went for it.
The ghost lunged at me, that rattling hiss emanating from her throat. I kicked her once more, but felt her fingernails scrape against my skin, breaking it and drawing blood. Ouch, that hurt. On the other hand, it proved my suspicions right.
If I could make physical contact with her, I could fight back. Sure, she could injure me, but the reverse was true as well.
Unfortunately, against that scrambling specter, I was outclassed. If Han Zhi Hui was an athletic type like Yun Shan, then I was pretty screwed.
Fortunately, her reflexes seemed dull, and she was attacking out of pure instinct. Unadulterated rage and sorrow gleamed from partially hidden eyes, and she slashed at me with a chilling wail.
"Oh, just shut up already!" I snapped, lashing out once more. "For Christ's sake, just hold steady!"
The ghost wasn't being cooperative. She pounced on me and tried to scratch once more, but she only left flesh wounds. That only resulted in wounding me up, and I smacked her with all my might with nary a sound. The longer I fought, the more my skills improved by leaps and bounds. At least that was what I thought, but her lethal nails brought me round.
"Ouch!"
Spinning around, I kicked her off me once more, sending her flying. She struck the wall and fell back on all fours with a loud hiss. I wasn't sure how much time I was capable of buying. Worse, the wraith was well aware that I was taking the piss.
Seriously, though, I wasn't sure how much longer I would last. I guess all those dreams of me being a hero remained strongly in the past.
"Classmate!"
I blinked and turned when I heard Shu Hong Qiu call out to me. What the hell? What was she doing here? The whole point of my facing the ghost was to buy her the time she needed to escape. Why did she have to return?
Fortunately, Shu Hong Qiu didn't come unarmed. She was holding a wooden sword in her hand for some reason. The first thought that came to my mind was that she intended to fight the ghost with that sword.
Was she…crazy?
Then again, I was kicking the ghost around. Even though I couldn't see any physical damage, it was a fact that my attacks were having a clear physical effect on her. At the very least, I could keep her at bay. It was almost too much for the specter to bear.
"Catch!"
"What…? Whoa!"
To my surprise, Shu Hong Qiu tossed the wooden sword to me. I couldn't believe it. She wasn't attacking the ghost herself, but instead passed the burden to me? Yeah, I knew it was my duty to protect her, but even so…
Well, whatever. I spun around to grab the wooden sword, watching as it arced across the air almost in slow motion. Shu Hong Qiu's aim was true, and she had immaculately calculated the precise force she needed to throw it to me. It sailed across the corridor, dipping at the perfect moment to almost land on my position. Retreating from the flailing ghost, I stretched my hand to seize it.
…and missed.
"Whoops!"
The wooden sword clattered on the ground. I desperately dove to grab it as it bounced away. At the same time, the wraith slashed with claws that would have taken my head off if I had remained standing. In essence, my clumsiness and lack of motor coordination saved my life.
Rising to a crouch after I fumbled and caught the handle of the wooden sword, I spun around – just when the specter lunged at me. Pressing my feet against the ground, I thrust the sword forward and allowed the ghost to impale herself on it.
A look of astonishment passed through her hideous face, as if she never expected to be run through by a wooden sword of all things. Now that I had calmed down and wasn't getting my head clawed off by a cursed spirit, I could see that I wasn't just holding any bamboo sword but a peach wood sword. Classical characters were carved into its blade, glowing fiercely as the rest of its length bit deeply into the ghost's chest.
"It's time for you to cease!" I proclaimed boldly as I drove the peach wood sword deeper. "Now you shall rest in peace!"
I swear I saw the ghost roll her eyes one last time before she exploded into ectoplasm and vanished completely from existence.