Zhou Wei gritted his teeth and said, "But... we were all participants in the game! That night, when Zhou Xiaolong asked the Ouija board about his lifespan, the board wrote the character 'one' on the paper. And last night, exactly one day later, Zhou Xiaolong died. His death is definitely related to the Ouija board!"

Indeed, as soon as Zhou Wei mentioned this, we felt a chill down our spines.

That night, when we played the Ouija board game and Zhou Xiaolong asked about his lifespan, I felt it was inappropriate.

At that time, when the Ouija board left the character 'one' on the paper, we were still speculating what exactly that 'one' represented - one day, one month, or one year?

However, sadly, the 'one' left by the Ouija board turned out to represent one day!

The time period when Zhou Xiaolong died last night happened to be exactly one day after we played the Ouija board game.

There couldn't be such a coincidence in the world!

Therefore, Zhou Xiaolong's death was very suspicious. Just as Zhou Wei said, it is definitely related to the Ouija board.

And there were those weird embroidered shoes. I remember clearly that Zhou Xiaolong had left them on the floor before we went to sleep. But now, when we tried to find those embroidered shoes, they were nowhere to be found.

We searched under the beds but didn't find any trace of the shoes.

Did the embroidered shoes disappear on their own? Or did someone intentionally hide them?

I don't think someone would intentionally hide them. Now that Zhou Xiaolong has died, with six people in the dormitory, everyone knows that those embroidered shoes are cursed. Who would dare to hide them? It would be like inviting trouble.

The most likely possibility is that the embroidered shoes disappeared on their own.

The disappearance of the embroidered shoes is as mysterious as their appearance - they appeared out of nowhere and vanished just as mysteriously.

"Cheng Ge, what do you think about this?" Fatso exhaled smoke and stuck his head out from under the bed to ask me.

I frowned, lying silently in bed. I said, "Zhou Xiaolong was indeed the one who offended the Ouija board. Now that the Ouija board has taken his life, it should be settled. The rest of us haven't offended the Ouija board, so hopefully, it won't bother us again!"

Huang Kun said, "That's true, but... what if the Ouija board comes back?"

Fatso blew smoke rings and cursed, "You jinx! If the Ouija board comes back, it'll come for you first!"

"You..." Huang Kun got scared and hid under the blanket. "Don't curse me, you damn fatso!"

"Hey! You think you're tough now, huh? Fatso didn't watch his mouth. I'll beat you to death! Come down here!" Fatso rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight Huang Kun.

Huang Kun huddled tightly under the blanket, refusing to come out.

While the two were arguing, there was a knocking sound at the door.

The door opened, and a middle-aged couple walked in, both of them with red, teary eyes.

Especially the woman, her eyes were swollen like peaches, and she didn't have the strength to walk properly, leaning against the wall for support.

There was no need for introductions. We knew immediately that this middle-aged couple must be Zhou Xiaolong's parents.

They had heard the devastating news in the morning and had hurriedly left their work to rush to the funeral home, where they saw their son's lifeless body.

After discussing the cremation arrangements with the funeral home, they followed the school leaders back to the campus to discuss compensation matters.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Although Zhou Xiaolong's death was his own doing, he died on school grounds, which made the school undeniably responsible. Compensation was definitely necessary.

However, for Zhou Xiaolong's parents, even if they were handed a large sum of money, it wouldn't make them feel at ease. The money couldn't bring back their lost son.

If it were possible, any parent would willingly give up wealth to bring back their child's life.

But in reality, there was no such thing as resurrection. The world was cruel, and they had to accept it.

It was evident that Zhou Xiaolong's parents were honest and simple people. It was hard to imagine how such honest people could raise a child who enjoyed violence.

Zhou Xiaolong's parents tidied up the items in his cabinet. Then, his father asked if we minded if they burned a couple of paper offerings in the dormitory to pay respects to their son's soul.

When it comes to the dead, Zhou Xiaolong's father's request wasn't unreasonable. We didn't say much and all nodded to show our agreement.

Zhou Xiaolong's father thanked us repeatedly, then lit two white candles on the balcony floor. He burned two pieces of paper, calling out Zhou Xiaolong's name while crying bitterly.

Watching Zhou Xiaolong's father's painful and choked-up appearance, we couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness, an impulse to cry.

The most tragic thing in the world was when the elderly bury their young.

Zhou Xiaolong's death was an immense blow to his parents.

I can't imagine whether this family can continue to support themselves in the future.

After burning the paper, Zhou Xiaolong's mother cleaned up the floor. The couple thanked us again and then supported each other as they slowly left the dormitory.

In fact, they weren't very old, just in their early forties. However, their son's death had crushed their spirits.

For the next two days, the six of us in the dormitory lived in constant fear, afraid that the Ouija board would come back for us.

But during those two days, everything was calm, and nothing unusual happened, gradually easing our anxieties.

Perhaps our speculation was correct - Zhou Xiaolong had offended the Ouija board, and the Ouija board sought trouble with him. But since the rest of us hadn't offended the Ouija board, it shouldn't bother us again.

The military training ended, and regular classes began. The Ouija board incident slowly faded from our memories, and our lives seemed to return to normalcy.

Perhaps because of the Ouija board incident, the remaining six of us in the dormitory had formed a strong bond. We were united, going to school and attending classes together, fetching water, showering, and eating in the cafeteria together.

Although Liu Jie was in the same class as us and even became the class monitor, we generally didn't pay much attention to him.

A few times when he tried to approach us for a conversation, he realized that we ignored him completely, making him feel awkward, so he walked away dejectedly.

No matter how well he performed academically, it wouldn't be worth anything in the future if he didn't know how to get along with others.

That day, just as we walked out of the dormitory in the morning, ready for class, Huang Kun unfortunately had bird droppings fall on his head from above.

Chen Feiyu touched Huang Kun's bald head and burst into laughter. He said, "Maybe that bird mistook your bald head for a nest!"

Fatso said, "Don't make fun of us countryfolk for being superstitious. We countryfolk often say that getting hit by bird droppings brings bad luck. Be careful today!"