After such an eventful Valentine's Day, I thought we were going to return to a regular school life. The ghost was done. My redo of Valentine's Day was over, and I thought this time around was much better than my previous try.
At least I didn't get run over by a truck this time. I survived my redo of Valentine's Day. Plus, I got to show off. Beat up a group of "bullies" who tried to lynch me because they thought I was a loser like them who didn't deserve to get chocolates.
It felt good. This was what redoing one's school life should feel like! Righting all my mistakes in my previous iteration and coming out on top! Gaining the fear and respect from my peers and swaggering around school like a badass! Anyone who challenges me, I will mop. I'll go around beating everyone up and proving that I'm better than the rest!
The only problem was that I failed to make any new friends. Instead of becoming popular, my flex had backfired and now I was feared and shunned. If anything, I was more of an outcast than before. At least in my previous life, I still had the SSS to hang out with, even if we were just licking each other's wounds.
For the moment, though, I focused on my martial arts training under dad, but even then my mind felt far away.
"Whoa!"
Ducking under a sweeping kick, I was unable to evade dad's follow-up strike and ended up crashing onto the ground. Rolling away, I jumped back up and assumed another defensive stance. That allowed me to block a kick, but the fourth attack sent me toppling over.
Throwing a hand out, I flipped myself over and hopped to a safe distance. Rising to a crouch, I eyed dad's movements warily.
"You seemed distracted, Cong."
"Huh? Oh, sorry, dad. That's my bad."
"Don't get too complacent now. You're letting your guard down."
I grinned, though inwardly, I felt a spark of annoyance. Complacent? Letting my guard down? I took down a ghost, for heaven's sake. None of my schoolmates could defeat me in a fight, including the massive Hen Xiong. How could that be possible?
As if he had read my mind, dad sighed and shook his head.
"There's always room for improvement. Granted, Cong, you're pretty skilled for your age, but you shouldn't be contented with what you've mastered right now. You must continue to learn and improve your skills. There's always a higher mountain."
"Hey, you have decades of experience over me. I'm trying to be the best that I can be."
"Are you now?" Dad raised an eyebrow. He placed a hand on his chin. "I've seen you carry that wooden sword around. Are you trying to learn kendo?"
"…not yet. I don't think I need to, I bet…"
"See?" Dad pointed at me somewhat dramatically. "Instead of taking the chance to learn something new, you've decided to stagnate."
"I just don't think it's necessary. I can make do with a rosary."
Dad shook his head. "Take it from me. If you don't continually improve yourself, you'll regret it one day."
I snorted dismissively, too much in a good mood to argue. Dad had no idea what I had been through. He would never understand. I had worked hard for this triumph. I deserved to dwell in these new heights.
That feeling of elation and being on the top of the world all came crashing down a few days later. The first sign that something was amiss was when I stepped into class and noticed the subdued mood. Everyone was whispering to each other, their eyes haunted.
"What's the matter?" I asked, reaching my desk and glancing at Tong Xue. The guy looked as if he was at a funeral. "Why is everyone so…somber?"
"You didn't hear?" Tong Xue glanced up at me, his gaze hollow. I frowned.
"Hear what?"
"Shen Ai Qing and her friends disappeared last night. In school."
"Say what?" I raised an eyebrow. Somehow I had completely missed that major news. To be fair, I was a self-centered person who spent more time being obsessed over something. Last time around, it was over Shen Ai Qing and winning her love. This time, I was basking in my own superiority. I tended to be oblivious to everything happening around me, and I really should fix that. Especially if I wanted to make more friends and reverse my unpopularity into popularity.
One thing at a time, though.
"Shen Ai Qing and friends went missing? Or is your way of teasing?"
"I'm serious! They stayed back for club activities after school yesterday, and their parents called the school last night, panicking because their daughters didn't go home. Wang Mei Nu is also absent. Everyone's in an uproar right now."
"That's not good."
I glanced in Yun Shan and Lian Hua's direction. They also looked a little concerned. I noticed that Yun Shan was a lot paler than usual, a trembling in her hands that was visible.
"Yun Shan, are you all right? Did you stay up all night?"
"Y…yeah. Just shocked, you know? They just found Han Zhi Hui's body last week, and now there's a new incident. What's happening in our school?"
"We don't know that they went missing in school," Lian Hua said softly. "They say the school's the last place anyone saw them, but…they could have gone somewhere else. Be abducted outside. I don't know."
"Nonetheless, don't stay back in school so late!"
"Like I said, it's not necessarily the case that they vanished in school. And they did announce that Han Zhi Hui's case was an unfortunate accident…"
Oh, right. The Shu family had covered that up. To everyone not involved and those who had lost their memories, Han Zhi Hui's unfortunate demise was reported as an accident. Even so, Yun Shan looked far from convinced.
"Even if the school itself isn't dangerous, whenever you stay back late, you'll be in danger on your way home. What if someone kidnaps, or worse, murders you on your way home?"
"You're exaggerating, Yun Shan." Lian Hua giggled nervously. "Nothing bad will happen to me. I've been doing it for a long time now, and see, I'm still here in one piece."
"You can't just keep taking it for granted!"
"But what about you, Yun Shan? You also stay back pretty late to practice basketball with your team. Are you in any danger?"
"I'm different! Never mind the fact that I'm stronger and can protect myself or run away, I usually go home together with the others in the basketball club! But you're always alone in the art club!"
"There's no one else in the art club?" I asked, puzzled. That made no sense to me. There should be at least a few seniors and other students. It wasn't as if drawing and painting were an unpopular hobby, especially in a school like ours. "The art club should be a good hub."
"No, the seniors graduated last year. I'm the only one left for now. We tried to recruit new members this year, but most of the first-year students were more interested in science and experiments. Those who had an interest in art ended up joining the manga club instead. Classical art and painting are no longer in vogue. Everyone just wants to draw manhua and comics now."
I found that hard to believe.
"Speaking of which, anyone knows what happened to the occult club?"
"I heard it got disbanded and the members quit after Han Zhi Hui's accident." Lian Hua shrugged. "I believe the school was trying to shut it down, anyway. They were a drain on resources and taking up a room for…nonproductive activities."
"Oh well, that sucks. I guess they weren't making big bucks."
"But I can't stop. At least not this week." Lian Hua was stubborn. She stared at Yun Shan determinedly. "You're the one who encouraged me to participate in the painting contest at You Xi Amusement Park. I need the practice. It's just a couple more days until the contest, at least allow me to continue working on my art until then."
"Participating in the contest is for naught if you go missing before you can take part in it!" Yun Shan protested hotly.
"If I may, I have a proposal to table." I raised my hand. "I'll stay back and watch over Lian Hua if able."
Yun Shan regarded me for a moment before she smiled and nodded in relief. "If Ming Cong is accompanying Lian Hua and sending her home, then I can rest assure and not worry."
"I can't guarantee anything, but I know I am hardworking."
"You're working hard on all the wrong things. Stop your rhyming already, will ya?"
I shrugged, but offered no promises. I should think of better premises.
Jiao Shi showed up later, but instead of beginning his chemistry lesson right away, he had an announcement to make.
"Yesterday, several of your classmates went missing. The last time anyone saw them was when they were in school, conducting tea ceremony for their club activities. But if you have any information regarding Shen Ai Qing and the others, please share."
Everyone exchanged glances, but no one spoke up. We didn't know what happened to them. I caught sight of Yun Shan's pale, anxious face, Tong Xue's glum silhouette and Lian Hua's timid posture. Even Gao Fu Shuai was unusually quiet.
"Their parents are extremely worried, so whatever information you can provide – anything – will go a long way."
A murmur swept across the classroom.
"The last time I saw Ai Qing and the rest was when they went to the tea ceremony room," one of the girls said.
"I don't think I saw them after class yesterday."
"Did they check the tea ceremony room?"
"It was empty," Jiao Shi confirmed. Everyone exchanged a glance and shook their heads. Clearly, nobody had any idea what happened to the missing girls.
I recalled Han Zhi Hui's fate and fought to suppress a shudder. I thought I had taken care of the ghost in school, but clearly, I hadn't. Then again, I should have realized that it wouldn't be so easy. I had completely forgotten that someone or something had to cause Han Zhi Hui's death in the first place. She wasn't always a ghost – she was turned to a ghost after something killed her.
"Anyway, everyone, please be careful. Do not stay out so late and make sure you go home early."
Yun Shan shot Lian Hua a triumphant look, but the latter paid no attention to the former. The fact that Chong Hua High didn't outright cancel school activities and impose a curfew showed that they didn't think it likely that Shen Ai Qing and the others went missing in school.
Perhaps they ran away from home, or so the rumors went. Whatever the case, despite the dark mood, we mostly forgot about it as we went about our daily routines. By the time lessons ended, people were going to their respective clubs.
"You had best be careful!" Yun Shan reminded Lian Hua, her jersey in one hand. "I know practice for the contest is important, but I'll never forgive you if you get yourself hurt!"
"Nothing will happen. Ming Cong said he'll be helping, so don't worry about me. I'm more concerned about you." Lian Hua gave her best friend a slight shove. "Don't get so distracted by me that you neglect your training. Your match is in a couple of weeks."
"Oh, I definitely will. Like I said, I can't show you my lame side!" Yun Shan grinned. She turned to me. "Take care of Lian Hua for me, okay, Ming Cong?"
"Yeah, I promise I will. I'll make sure there's no kill."
"Can't you be serious for once?"
"Sorry, but I am serious."
With that, I followed Lian Hua to the art club room. It wasn't very big, resembling a private studio with paintings and sculptures hung all over the wall. I stopped in front of a particular painting, which disturbed me. A canvas that had been splashed with black, with a disembodied head in the middle, surrounded by contorting limbs.
Somehow, I was reminded of the thing Han Zhi Hui had become.
There was another one that looked like someone had splattered blood across the canvas. In the center, I could barely make out bodies, almost as if they were floating in a sea of red. Reminiscent of the vision of hell that I received when I was down there.
"Ah, sorry…they are disturbing, aren't they?"
Lian Hua looked apologetic, rushing forward to cover up the grisly artworks. She bowed her head deeply.
"Sorry for making you see such macabre works."
"No, not at all. That's my downfall."
"Huh?"
"Sorry, just trying to make things rhyme. Don't worry about it this time."
"Right."
"But still, do you always draw pictures like that? No offense, but they make me feel very sad. Ah, no, don't worry about it, your art is not bad."
"Thank you, but I know how disturbing it can be." Lian Hua lowered her head before she took her place at a stool. She held up a brush and began dabbing it into a palette. She smiled sheepishly as she painted a single stroke across the blank canvas. "That's the reason why the first-year students were turned off. Nobody wanted to join the art club because of me…my depressing, creepy artwork."
With her brush still in her hand, she held a finger to her lips and giggled.
"Please don't tell Yun Shan, though. I don't want to frighten her off."
"I don't think she'll be frightened off," I assured her. "She will beat anyone who scoffs."
"Thank you." Lian Hua returned to drawing, painting broader, thicker strokes now. "Seriously, though, I appreciate you and Yun Shan looking out for me."
"Nah, I'm not, no…it's nothing. Anyone would have done the same thing."
"To be honest, I always thought you were a bit creepy…because you were always following Shen Ai Qing around in the past."
I was grateful she didn't outright say I was stalking.
"But you turned out to be nicer than I thought. A little funny, too." She snickered as she glanced at me. "Though I would prefer if you stop your…rapping."
"Sorry." Damn, I was hoping it was funny, but I guess not.
Lian Hua frowned as she studied the beginnings of something…ghostly that she painted across her canvas, but she suddenly tore the paper off and crumpled it, tossing it to a wastebasket. Smoothing out a new piece of canvas underneath, she stared at the empty screen and thought for a moment.
"Hey, Ming Cong, do you mind sitting there?" She pointed at the center of the art club. When I stared at her quizzically, she smiled. "I hope you don't mind modeling for me."
"Uh…"
"I'm just practicing." She sighed and glanced at the grotesque artworks she had covered earlier. "I can't paint something like those for the contest…I don't think the judges would be pleased. I don't want to let Yun Shan down, so I want to paint something more…conventional. I was wondering if I should try drawing portraits."
She then winked at me.
"I'll be asking Yun Shan to model for me on the day of the competition itself. But since she's not here for me to practice, could you lend me a hand?"
"Oh, sure." Pushing my glasses up my nose, I nodded and headed to the center of the room. I felt self-conscious, unable to suppress my unease. Taking a deep breath, I forced a grin. "Since you're putting me through this, you had best win the competition."
"Don't worry." Lian Hua's smile was dazzling. "I fully intend to do so."