Chapter 63 You Will Return

The scenery outside was retreating at a breathtaking speed. Those two figures had long since departed from the banks of the moat, hurtling rapidly toward the southern district of Shanming City.

Inside the taxi, the midnight driver, bored out of his mind, had cranked up the car stereo to a deafening volume, blasting some kind of soothing and melodious tune.

In the back seat, a long-haired man with handsome features ruined by an aura of gloom held a cigarette between his fingers. He gazed out the window at the receding nightscape, remaining silent for a long time.

Beside him, a gaunt, nervous young man clutched a photograph tightly, staring at it with unblinking eyes.

"At Tiannan Drama Academy, I saw a ghost. It had to be a ghost..."

The man's words dragged the oppressive atmosphere to a new height. A heavy pressure accompanied his voice, gradually echoing within the car cabin.

This prompted the middle-aged driver to glance back at the two of them, letting out a soft, dismissive snort through his nose.

The long-haired man made no response, merely rolling down the window a fraction to flick off the accumulated cigarette ash.

"At the time, another college teacher and I went into A-Ling's original office.

"A-Ling's desk was completely empty, as if all traces of her had been erased by some mysterious force.

"Oddly enough, the desk directly opposite hers, belonging to another teacher, had been completely cleared out as well.

"The person who vanished along with A-Ling was that very teacher.

"And the ghost I saw was none other than that missing female teacher."

The gaunt young man's voice was very soft as he recounted the bizarre past event. It sounded terrifyingly shocking, much like an urban legend.

Emotions flowed quietly, managing to pique even the initial skeptic of a driver's interest.

He glanced sidelong at the speaker through the rearview mirror and immediately asked, "And then?"

Just as the gaunt young man finished speaking, the other long-haired man, who had remained silent all along, gave his fingers a slight flick, sending the cigarette butt flying out the window.

"And precisely because of this, you concluded that A-Ling and that teacher weren't merely missing, but dead—and had even turned into ghosts?"

Hearing this, the gaunt young man shook his head, instantly refuting the claim:

"No, at the time I didn't have much understanding of ghostly entities. What truly made me certain A-Ling was killed by a ghost was the turn of events that followed!"

He gave a slight cough, as though still harboring lingering terror from those past events, even though he had since truly witnessed supernatural entities.

"The academic affairs teacher who accompanied me explicitly stated that no one worked in this office.

"In his mind, neither A-Ling nor the other teacher had ever existed. This was clearly the terrifying brainwashing ability of the source ghost inhabiting that place.

"Refusing to believe it, I began rummaging through A-Ling and the other teacher's workspaces, trying to prove they had once existed here.

"But I was disappointed; they had been wiped away entirely. Yet, just as I was leaving in despair...

"I noticed a dressing mirror standing near the door...

"Through the reflection in the mirror, I saw a familiar figure. Her entire body was shrouded in a mass of black fog, obscuring her features, but her slender figure resembled that of a woman...

"However, it wasn't A-Ling!"

"Was it the other missing female teacher?" the driver in the front seat speculated as he navigated the vehicle, following the man's narrative.

The gaunt young man raised his eyes to look at him and nodded:

"At the time, I could only be certain it wasn't A-Ling, and I hadn't yet concluded that it was that female teacher.

"Until, in my shock, I suddenly looked back—and the academic affairs teacher who had come with me had vanished from the spot right then and there!

"In the real world perceived by the naked eye, I could no longer find him, but he had squeezed his way into the mirror!

"He looked as though he had lost all his strength, being dragged forward by that figure wreathed in black fog, and leaped headfirst out of a window within the reflection.

"And right as it jumped out of the window, I caught a glimpse of its face—it was indeed that female teacher!"

The gaunt young man poured out a long stream of words, recounting everything he had witnessed a year ago and explaining the doubts that had lingered in his mind ever since.

The reason he fought so desperately to prove the genuine existence of ghosts stemmed entirely from that past incident. This included his current plea for the long-haired man to accompany him to Tiannan Drama Academy, driven purely by a desire for verification.

After all, since the fellow missing female teacher had already turned into a ghost, what about A-Ling, his fiancée...

"Ji Li, I'm not asking for salvation. Just let me see her one more time. No matter what she has become, if I can just lay eyes on her once more, I would gladly die!"

The long-haired man, addressed as Ji Li, slowly turned his head, looking at the man so close to him yet residing in a completely different world.

He could throw himself into chaos and wander through terror, trading his life for a single chance of reunion, all for a beloved who had already perished into a terrifying entity.

Ji Li could not understand it, nor could he truly empathize, yet his heart stirred slightly.

"Yu Guo, have you ever considered that in the near future, we might re-enter this university in the capacity of store clerks, capturing the source ghost responsible for this tragedy through a haunting reception?

"To avenge your A-Ling?"

"Vengeance..."

Yu Guo's expression suddenly grew dazed. He gripped the photograph of the young man and woman tightly between his fingertips.

The woman in the photo was not breathtakingly gorgeous, but her brows carried a gentle, dignified, and delicate charm.

A single tear slipped from Yu Guo's eye, landing right upon the smiling face of the woman, blossoming like a flower.

Soft murmurs began to echo within the carriage, sounding almost like a desperate plea.

"No vengeance. I don't need that anymore...

"I only ask to see her once. Either let her find peace, or let me accompany her..."

Ji Li suddenly found it slightly hard to breathe. He intensely disliked this kind of atmosphere; it induced a sense of intoxicating sorrow that threatened to cloud his rationality.

He reached out and rolled the car window all the way down. An icy, biting gale rushed in instantly, whipping his hair into a frenzy.

Outside the window lay a long street with a peculiar architectural style and a thoroughly retro vibe, countless red lanterns flashing past in a blur as the car sped along.

This street possessed a unique, singular aura that crept into Ji Li's nostrils, shocking his senses.

He peered out the window with a look of newfound curiosity and asked the driver, "Where is this?"

The driver, somewhat infected by Yu Guo's peculiar emotional state, answered in a daze upon hearing Ji Li's question:

"This is a newly built attraction styled after the Republic of China era." With that, he smacked his lips, casting a glance at the empty street. The vehicle's slight bumping over the paved stone road caused his voice to tremble slightly.

"It's fine during the day, but once night falls and there's nobody around, I always feel like this retro street is just so eerie..."

Hearing the driver's words, Ji Li initially thought nothing of it. But as he looked upon the passing bricks, tiles, red lanterns, and dark wooden doors with a critical eye, an uncomfortable sensation bloomed in his heart.

The feeling this street gave him was far from that of a simple tourist attraction.

The taxi gradually pulled away from the area, speeding ever closer to Tiannan Drama Academy. As Ji Li silently stared out the car window, a sudden intuition caused him to turn his head.

At the very end of the Republic-style street behind them stood a billboard.

In the pitch-black night, crimson LED lights on the sign flickered with an eerie glow, illuminating four characters that were reflected in Ji Li's ash-dark pupils:

"You will return..."