The dead chick assured me that it was absolutely effective—there's a difference between practicing and casting spells, and I'd understand once I tried it. I wasn't so sure. If it weren't for her earlier, I might've ended up dead. But with her around, I wasn't too afraid of messing up again. So, I closed my eyes, formed the gesture, and chanted the spell.
"Communicate with the spirit, reveal all truths. Come forth for duty, but silence without task. Be it fortune or calamity, deliver the decree. Aid earns merit, deceit earns punishment!"
As soon as I finished the incantation, dark mist filled my mind, and my soul felt like it was stepping forward to report in. Then Liu Yan appeared next to me. Her ghastly, mutilated form was still horrifying, but this wasn't a cultivation session that required deep mental focus. It was a spell-casting phase for summoning spirits, so my mind wasn't entirely confined, and her presence didn't scare me as much as before.
Still, I couldn't help but shudder violently. My entire body trembled as I stared at Liu Yan's bloodied, eyeless sockets. I said, "Liu Yan, I need your help..."
Before I could finish, she interrupted. "Why are you summoning me twice in one day? I died horribly enough already—can't you leave me alone?" Her voice sounded like a toad croaking, eerie and unsettling, which was apparently how tongueless ghosts spoke. The sound sent chills down my spine.
"I know you died terribly, but I'm begging for just one more favor. I promise not to bother you again after this!" I said, trying to steady my wildly beating heart.
"What do you need me to do?" Liu Yan paused, her bloodied eye sockets rolling in a way that nearly scared me out of my wits.
"It's that old bastard, Director Chen. He's always throwing his weight around, bullying us. I want you to give him a good scare. I'll burn more offerings for you later!"
After a brief silence, Liu Yan replied, "Fine." Then she vanished, presumably heading upstairs.
When I opened my eyes, I was thrilled to see how magical the summoning technique was. Spirits really did appear at my call and were surprisingly cooperative. The dead chick explained that summoned spirits usually complied because they feared being trapped by the spell. Staying bound to the summoning ritual for too long could peel layers off their ghostly essence.
Excited, I quietly snuck upstairs. When I reached the director's office, I didn't hear screams of terror as I'd expected but instead some rather explicit moaning and panting. My mind reeled. That old guy's fooling around? Could it be with Teacher Qiu, the seductive fox of a teacher?
"You're disgusting!" the dead chick scolded me.
"I stumbled upon this—I wasn't eavesdropping on purpose," I retorted, thinking she was accusing me of intentionally listening in on their romp.
But she huffed angrily and said, "Your reaction is over the top! Have some self-control…" That remark embarrassed me, and a long silence followed.
What reaction? I suddenly realized what she meant, quickly covered myself, and felt more amused than ashamed. I thought, Not so small now, huh?
Just then, there was a scream from inside the office, followed by Liu Yan's croaky voice near my ear: "They both fainted. I'm leaving now!" A cold wind brushed past me, and she was gone.
After Liu Yan left, I felt a bit let down. The fright seemed too brief—I didn't get to enjoy it. I whispered to the dead chick to help me push the door open, as it was locked from the inside. She snapped, accusing me of wanting to take advantage of the unconscious woman. I rolled my eyes. "I'm not that kind of guy. I just want to threaten the old man into letting me return to school."
She reluctantly pushed the door open. Inside, I was met with an awkward sight: two stark-naked bodies, sprawled one atop the other like dead dogs. Director Chen's partner, unsurprisingly, was Teacher Qiu. Her pale, enticing figure made me freeze for a moment, and once again, certain parts of me reacted inappropriately.
"There you go again! Do you want to become a eunuch?" the dead chick snapped, annoyed.
I quickly reined in my thoughts and saw a basin of water near the door. Grabbing it, I splashed it over them. The cold shock woke them up instantly. As they opened their eyes and saw me standing there, they screamed in unison. The old man rolled off Teacher Qiu's pale belly, hastily pulling a blanket over their essential parts.
"What are you still doing on campus? When did you return?" the old man asked, trying to maintain a stern demeanor.
I smirked, deliberately sinister, and said, "I came back with Liu Yan!"
"Ah!" Teacher Qiu shrieked, diving under the covers. The old man's eyes widened in terror, his mouth quivering, too scared to speak.
Seeing him in such a pitiful state gave me immense satisfaction. This guy always treated me like a rat under his paw, but now, the tables had turned. I grinned and said, "Why did you and your accomplices plot murder? Why did you try to kill Xiao Ying and Xiao Xiang?"
The old man stammered, "I… I don't know what you're talking about."
I realized the girl had only implicated Teacher Qiu, not him, so he probably wasn't involved. I snapped, "Then stay out of this!" He obediently rolled aside, too scared to argue.
Turning to Teacher Qiu, I demanded, "You! Tell me the truth about what you've been up to."
She peeked out from the blanket, trembling. "I… I don't know what you're talking about. But if you want to ask me out for dinner, we can set a date…" She suddenly shifted into a sultry demeanor, batting her lashes at me.
Damn, trying to use her charms! But those seductive glances nearly made me lose focus. There was even a saying around school: A man who resists Teacher Qiu's allure isn't a real man. Whoever came up with that was clearly a moron—trying to have it both ways.
Fighting my rising heart rate, I said, "Cut the act. If you don't tell me the truth, I'll have Liu Yan have a chat with you." Of course, Liu Yan was long gone, but they didn't know that.
At the mention of Liu Yan, Teacher Qiu turned pale as a sheet, trembling under the covers. My threats finally broke her, and she confessed everything.
She revealed that this was all Yuxin Yu's doing. Yuxin had a grudge against Xiao Ying and Xiao Xiang and had paid a sorcerer to unleash the Feng Lan ghost to harm them. Teacher Qiu only got involved because Yuxin had leverage over her and had coerced her into recruiting Director Chen to clean up the aftermath.
This revelation surprised me. Yuxin Yu, one of the four school beauties, was the mastermind? She wasn't in my class and was known for being cold and distant—an ice queen of sorts. That's probably why her voice had seemed unfamiliar.
Just as I was about to dig deeper, the dead chick suddenly warned me, "Someone's coming this way. We need to leave, or we'll get caught."
Who could be visiting the old man at this hour? I still had so many questions, but staying longer would only cause more trouble. As I left, I threw one last remark over my shoulder: "I have to go now, but don't forget to reinstate my enrollment. If you don't, Liu Yan will be back to have a talk with you."