"I know. Are you home?"

"Yes."

"I might not come back tonight."

"Alright, take care."

"Be careful with Mr. Chen as well. Don't trust him too much." Due to the special nature of the case, Qin Feng couldn't tell Lin Fan too much. "Do you still have classes tomorrow?"

"The school hasn't notified us, so yes, we do."

"Don't go to the library."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Lin Fan pondered for a while and then looked at Lei Xiaojia, "Is it okay for you to keep following me?"

Lei Xiaojia seemed a bit confused, "Where else should I go?"

Indeed, where else could she go? Lin Fan and Lei Xiaojia looked at each other in silence. As expected, Qin Feng didn't come back that night. The next morning, Lin Fan was sleeping soundly when she suddenly felt a chill on her neck. She quickly opened her eyes and attacked, but her wrist was caught. A hoarse, low voice said, "It's me."

Lin Fan opened her eyes to see Qin Feng. The bedside lamp was already on, casting a shadow over his deep-set features. Lin Fan was dazed for a few seconds, and Qin Feng let go of her hand, "Did you wake up groggy?"

Lin Fan nodded, still sleepy, "What time is it?"

"Five o'clock. You need to get up."

Lin Fan, being young, was at an age where she loved to sleep. She groaned and pulled the blanket over her face. Qin Feng liked her spirited nature and sat beside her, gently pulling the blanket away with a good-natured smile, "If you don't get up, you'll be late."

Lin Fan got out of bed, rubbed her hair, and headed straight for the bathroom. When she came out after washing up, Qin Feng was eating breakfast, holding his phone and scrolling through it. Seeing Lin Fan, he put down his phone and called her, "Come and eat."

Breakfast was simple, tofu pudding with youtiao. Lin Fan pulled out a chair and sat down, looking around and noticing that Lei Xiaojia was not there. "Why did you come back? I thought you wouldn't."

"I'm taking you to school." Qin Feng handed Lin Fan a peeled tea egg. "And I needed to change clothes."

"Oh."

"Oh what? Silly." Qin Feng smiled, then his expression became serious, "The autopsy results for Lei Xiaojia are out."

Lin Fan looked up, "How did she die?"

"Her myocardial fibers tore, causing a heart bleed and cardiac arrest."

Lin Fan swallowed the tea egg, staring blankly at Qin Feng, "How could that happen?"

"The forensic explanation is that when a person is in extreme fear, the adrenal glands suddenly release a large amount of catecholamines, causing the heart rate to accelerate and blood pressure to rise. The oxygen demand of myocardial metabolism increases sharply, and the rapid blood circulation impacts the heart, causing myocardial fibers to tear."

Lin Fan understood. "She was scared to death?"

"You could say that."

Lin Fan almost dropped her spoon. Her throat moved, and she frowned, "She really was scared to death! No wonder she was so afraid when she mentioned that red-clothed female ghost. No wonder! No wonder she doesn't remember how she died; she died so quickly that she didn't even realize it."

Qin Feng said, "Let's eat first."

Lin Fan felt no appetite but still finished her tofu pudding. She felt very uncomfortable, unable to accept that Lei Xiaojia was scared to death.

"Was it the ghost in the library?" Lin Fan put down her spoon and looked at Qin Feng, "Was it her?"

"I don't know." Qin Feng shook his head, "What we can confirm for now is that Lei Xiaojia was indeed scared to death. There might be some human involvement in pretending to be supernatural. We haven't figured it out yet."

Lin Fan sighed, thinking of that red-clothed female ghost with a venomous gaze. Putting on her coat, Qin Feng grabbed her school bag and headed for the elevator. Lin Fan looked at Qin Feng, "Ouyang Yu said to be careful of Mr. Chen. Who do you think is telling the truth, him or Mr. Chen?"

"I don't know."

Lin Fan reached out and held Qin Feng's hand, "Could the fact that ghosts aren't afraid of you have something to do with me? Am I sharing your fate? Mr. Chen said we share the same fate. Does that mean our fates are intertwined?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I'm not sure." Qin Feng wrapped her hand in his palm, "We're just ordinary people. What I can do is use our methods to discern good from bad. I can't see through people's hearts."

Qin Feng was helpless. How could he distinguish between truth and lies?

Lin Fan felt very conflicted. Qin Feng looked down at her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her forehead, "Stay away from Mr. Chen. Don't meet him alone. We don't have enough evidence now. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Lin Fan felt even more conflicted. Qin Feng's words confirmed that there was a problem with Mr. Chen. This clashed with her worldview. Lin Fan looked up at Qin Feng, tightly holding his hand, wanting to say something but unable to find the words.

When they got in the car, Qin Feng reminded her, "Fasten your seatbelt."

Lin Fan still looked somber as she fastened her seatbelt, feeling not only sad for Lei Xiaojia but also overwhelmed by the chaos. "Ouyang Yu seems to be disfigured. He looked worse than last time, with scars all over his exposed skin. At the hospital, Mr. Chen was evenly matched with him, but this time Mr. Chen easily struck him with a sword."

"Mr. Chen used a sword? Where?"

"At the entrance of the community. They might have used a barrier. People were calmly passing by them. If they could see, they wouldn't react like that. Ouyang Yu disappeared after being struck by Mr. Chen's sword. I'm now wondering if Ouyang Yu was killed."

Qin Feng frowned. Mr. Chen was very suspicious. He claimed to be married to that old lady, but there was no record of her having any marital history or children. How old was Mr. Chen really? What was his identity? Qin Feng searched for his name but found no information. Moreover, the old lady was dying of late-stage cancer. When Qin Feng asked the doctor, he was told she had no more than three months to live. Both Ouyang Yu and Mr. Chen mentioned that the heart extraction ritual might be for resurrection. But who were they trying to resurrect?

Qin Feng dropped Lin Fan off at school. He hesitated about whether to have Lin Fan stay home for a few days since the school was unsafe. Lin Fan walked a distance and then looked back at Qin Feng, waving, "Don't worry, I can protect myself. You be careful too."

Qin Feng nodded, "Go on."

Lin Fan entered her dormitory, which was empty. The other two girls had attended Lei Xiaojia's gathering. Now that Lei Xiaojia was dead, they were too scared to come back. Lin Fan put down her bag, picked up her schoolbag, and went downstairs, feeling empty inside.

In the classroom, students came in one by one, but the seat next to Lin Fan was empty. Acne Brother and Xu Wenzhi didn’t come to class. The classroom was silent; no one spoke. They must have known about the major incident at school.

The first morning class was very quiet. Lin Fan looked at the empty seat next to her and felt a sharp pain in her heart. She didn’t want to make new friends anymore.

The first period was with the homeroom teacher, Zhou Jing, who stood on the podium in silence for a long time before saying, "Lei Xiaojia passed away unexpectedly. Life is unpredictable—" She seemed to want to say something more but just lowered her head and paused for a long time before continuing, "Let's start the class."

Some girls who were close to Lei Xiaojia started to cry softly. Acne Brother and Xu Wenzhi still didn’t come.

By the afternoon, word had spread throughout the school that a student in their class had died. During dinner, Lin Fan heard many people discussing it. The school was shrouded in gloom, and the incident could affect many. The school’s lax security had led to a student’s death on campus.

At night, the other two girls in the dormitory still didn’t return. Lin Fan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Lei Xiaojia’s death was like a thorn in her heart. At eleven o'clock, she put on her down jacket, grabbed a flashlight, and went downstairs, heading straight for the old library.

The biting wind cut her face like a knife. Lin Fan pulled up her jacket hood, knowing that the police had left after confirming Lei Xiaojia's death. Under the vast darkness, the old library stood quietly, looking eerie.

Lin Fan put her hands in her pockets, huddled her head, and walked forward stealthily. The school had many evergreen trees, and Lin Fan walked close to them, almost merging with the darkness. What was inside that building? What did that woman in red want?

Why did she kill Lei Xiaojia? Did Lei Xiaojia provoke her? Now Lei Xiaojia didn’t dare come to the school to find Lin Fan, probably wandering outside. Lin Fan finally reached the library entrance. The police tape was still up. She circled around and tried to push the door but couldn’t open it. She bit the flashlight and climbed in through the window.

To be honest, she was a bit scared. The dark house was pitch black, and she couldn’t see anything. Lin Fan had encountered vengeful ghosts before. They were unreasonable, like the previous one, Dong Miao. But Lin Fan had to come. No matter how unreasonable a ghost was, it couldn’t kill people indiscriminately.

Lin Fan turned on the flashlight, lighting her path as she headed upstairs. Her heart was pounding fast, thumping loudly. She exhaled and was about to continue up when she suddenly heard footsteps outside.

Lin Fan froze, quickly turned off the flashlight, and ran to crouch behind a bookshelf on the second floor, covering her heart. Who was coming? Someone. Ghosts don’t have footsteps.

Soon the person approached and climbed in through the window as well. She groped her way upstairs in the dark. Lin Fan held her breath, staring intently at the staircase. The footsteps were light and small, indicating the person was likely no taller than 1.65 meters and not heavy.

A woman?

Who?

Lin Fan retracted her gaze, looking up to the third floor, only to meet a pale face staring at her with a sinister gaze. Standing quietly on the third floor, the woman looked at Lin Fan, scaring her out of her wits.

She had appeared.

The person continued upstairs, stopping at the second-floor corner. Light from outside cast a shadow, but Lin Fan still couldn’t see clearly—it was too dark.

"Why did you kill?" the person asked.

The hairs on Lin Fan’s neck stood up. Zhou Jing! Her homeroom teacher! Zhou Jing could see ghosts? She could. The woman continued to stare at Lin Fan, ignoring Zhou Jing.

"Shen Yi—"

The woman lunged from the third floor, screaming as she attacked Lin Fan. Lin Fan quickly drew a short sword to block, moving swiftly. The woman seemed to be cut by the sword, screamed, and leaped away, crouching at the stairwell with a vicious look, filled with resentment.

"Who?" Zhou Jing was startled. There was someone else here.

"It's me." Lin Fan bit her lip, gripping the short sword, and cautiously watched the woman in red, "Ms. Zhou."

"Lin Fan?"

As she spoke, the female ghost rushed at Lin Fan again, clawing at her face. Lin Fan leaned back to dodge and swung the sword horizontally. The female ghost avoided the sword and leaped over her. Lin Fan tried to turn but was too late. Her shoulder suddenly hurt, and she turned, swinging the sword. The ghost screamed and fell by the window. Without stopping, she attacked again.

"Shen Yi!" Zhou Jing shouted, rushing to stand in front of Lin Fan. She spread her arms to shield Lin Fan, staring at the menacing ghost and slowly backing away, "Don't kill! You promised me you wouldn't kill!"