Clear-Headed, the Truth Behind His Death

Zhang Qiang suddenly snapped his eyes open, his eyeballs nearly bulging out of their sockets. It gave me quite a fright.

After all, this guy had been haunting me for days.

I cautiously took a step back. It was pretty creepy.

Zhang Qiang opened his eyes and saw me standing before him, then suddenly said:

"Jiang Ning, Teacher Chen told me to come get you and bring you back..."

His very first words sent a chill down my spine.

What, he still wasn't clear-headed?

But aside from being wide open, his eyes no longer held that numbness and ferocity.

Without a second thought, I raised my hand and slapped him.

The slap landed squarely on his face.

It knocked him completely silly.

"Go back my ass. You're fucking dead, do you know that?

You've been haunting me every damn day. Fuck!"

I didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

After being slapped, Zhang Qiang covered his face.

His wide eyes gradually relaxed.

He stared at me blankly.

"D-Dead? What do you mean, dead?"

"Think about it carefully. Why are you here? Why did you come looking for me?"

I continued, my expression serious.

Zhang Qiang first looked around, then suddenly became confused and began to recall:

"Where is this? Why is it dark?

Teacher Chen told me to come get you and bring you back to class.

I-I had just come out of the Anatomy Room, hadn't I?

I passed Little White Bridge..."

Zhang Qiang muttered to himself, but when he said the words "Little White Bridge," his expression suddenly froze. He looked at me with utter horror.

Stammering fearfully, he said:

"I... I jumped from there... from up there. I d-died..."

His face was filled with terror as he looked at me in disbelief.

I nodded.

"That's right. You're already dead. You've been haunting me for four days."

Zhang Qiang looked utterly terrified, perhaps unable to accept it.

"No, no... I-I'm f-fine, aren't I?"

Before he could finish, Corpse Head Song's voice sounded behind him:

"Fine my ass. Feel yourself. See if you have any warmth, any heartbeat."

Hearing this, Zhang Qiang instinctively reached for his chest.

But how could a ghost possibly feel a heartbeat?

His entire body was nothing but cold.

He seemed unable to accept it, and his face grew more and more panicked.

He kept pressing against his chest, trying to feel his heartbeat.

"No... I-I'm only twenty. I-I just got a girlfriend..."

At that, the memories of his death surged back.

Zhang Qiang could no longer hold himself together.

Sob... sob, sob, sob...

He broke into tears, collapsing to his knees. His face was filled with grief.

Corpse Head Song walked over as well.

He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his expression largely unchanged.

He merely stared at the crying Zhang Qiang and said:

"You didn't die normally. You're carrying a whole body's worth of resentment.

That's why you don't remember how you died.

But you've only been dead for a few days, and you haven't harmed anyone.

So you aren't burdened with any sin.

Think carefully now. What happened to you before you died?

Why did you jump into the lake to kill yourself..."

That was also what had puzzled me these past few days.

I had looked through the group chat records.

They said that after Zhang Qiang left the Anatomy Room, he headed straight to Little White Bridge at Emerald Willow Lake on campus.

He stood there for a while before jumping in.

By the time passing students pulled him ashore, he had already drowned.

As for why he had jumped into the lake and drowned, no one knew.

But I had always felt it might have something to do with the coin that had been in Xiao Yu's mouth...

Zhang Qiang was extremely emotional, but neither Corpse Head Song nor I urged him at that moment.

After he cried for a while and gradually accepted the truth,

he said to me:

"I-I remember. After you left,

Teacher Chen told us to find the coin and hand it in at the dissection table.

I got greedy and secretly hid the coin.

Later, I felt dizzy. Teacher Chen saw that I was distracted.

So he told me to go find you and bring you back.

But when I reached Little White Bridge, I think I heard someone calling me from the water.

So I stood on the bridge and looked down.

Then I fell in.

I choked on a few mouthfuls of water, and I can't remember what happened after that.

I only know that I suddenly returned to the dorm.

I felt dizzy, so I ate your chocolate.

And I thought you smelled nice. I couldn't help wanting to smell you.

Everything after that is a blur.

I only remember Teacher Chen standing in the Anatomy Room.

He kept telling me to come find you, to bring you back.

Every so often, I could hear him urging me..."

Zhang Qiang began recalling everything he remembered and told it all to Corpse Head Song and me.

Corpse Head Song took one last drag from his cigarette, crushed it beneath his foot, and asked me:

"Where's that coin now?"

"With Uncle Yu. Uncle Yu said it was Ghost-Falling Money. My yang energy is weak right now, so he's keeping it for me."

I answered honestly.

But Corpse Head Song narrowed his eyes.

"His death was very likely caused by his greed. He took the coin from the female corpse's mouth.

The coin drained away all his yang energy, causing the filthy thing in that small lake to lure him in as he passed by.

In the end, it took his life."

Upon hearing that, Zhang Qiang swung his hand and slapped himself four or five times.

The slaps rang out sharply as he hit himself and cried out regretfully:

"My stupid hands, my greed.

Teacher Chen clearly said we weren't allowed to take it. Whoever found the coin was supposed to hand it in for disposal.

Why did I have to secretly steal it?

Now it's over. My life is gone, my life is gone... sob, sob, sob..."

Zhang Qiang was overcome with regret.

I only sighed as I watched him, saying nothing.

Corpse Head Song, however, said:

"Enough. You're already dead, so stop tormenting yourself.

Life and death are fated. Maybe this was your fate.

And meeting me was also your fate.

Your first seven days after death haven't passed yet, so you can still go home and take a look.

After you've seen them, I'll have Xiao Jiang light a stick of incense for you. Then you can go down on your own.

If too much time passes, baleful energy will start to gather on you.

You'll lose your mind again and gradually turn into a vicious ghost..."

After hearing this, Zhang Qiang nodded repeatedly.

He said he wanted to go home, wanted to see his parents one last time.

But he also said that for some reason,

he suddenly could no longer tell directions apart.

Even though he knew his home address, he simply didn't know how to get there or return home.

He couldn't distinguish distance or direction, nor could he tell whether the journey was near or far...

Back when I ate funeral meals in the village, I had heard an elder at my table mention this.

They said that after someone died, a Soul-Summoning Banner had to be raised, incense had to be lit at the entrance, and an everlasting lamp had to be lit before the coffin.

Otherwise, the deceased relatives would not be able to find their way home or tell which direction home was.

Back then, I had treated it as a story, merely a traditional custom, and never took it seriously.

But hearing Zhang Qiang say this now, I realized it was true.

After people died and became ghosts, especially ghosts who died unnatural deaths,

they needed someone to guide them home.

Seeing this, Corpse Head Song merely said to me:

"Xiao Jiang, go to my tackle box and bring me the yellow pouch inside."

"Yes, Master Song."

I immediately agreed and ran toward the tackle box.

I opened Corpse Head Song's tackle box. It was a complete mess inside.

But there was a yellow pouch printed with a taiji symbol.

I had no idea what was inside, but I quickly took it out and headed back toward Corpse Head Song and Zhang Qiang.

Once I reached them,

Corpse Head Song said again:

"Xiao Jiang, use the yellow paper and pen inside.

Write down your classmate's home address and birth date and time.

Then light a stick of incense, and your classmate will be able to go home..."