No wonder Su Rang had said the side quest rewards were practically useless.
The little mouse lay by Ji Xun's feet, gazing up at him with round, black, beady eyes.
Was it actually kind of cute?
The Red-Dress Ghost asked, "Where's the principal?"
Jiang Yao said, "The principal's already dead. His head's gone, too."
He made a chopping motion across his neck.
"He got off easy," the Red-Dress Ghost spat.
Seeing those two indignantly discussing how to torture the principal so he wouldn't get off easy, Deng Wen turned to Ji Xun, who was having a wonderful time playing with the mouse. "What was it you said you needed my help with?"
"Oh, right." Only then did Ji Xun remember the struggling student with the itchy head. "Let's go to Grade One Class Seven."
"Jiang Yao, we're leaving," Deng Wen called.
The baby reluctantly waved goodbye to Ji Xun and said sweetly, "Bye, big brother."
Now that he was back with his mother, his speech had become much clearer.
"Come find me if you need any help." The Red-Dress Ghost nodded slightly, a rare hint of gentleness appearing in her bloodshot eyes as she looked at Ji Xun.
After saying goodbye to the two ghosts, they arrived outside Grade One Class Seven.
The Failing Student Ghost had already slipped into a state bordering on obsession. He stared at the unsolved problem on the blackboard, muttering incessantly to himself.
He looked even worse than last time.
They pushed the door open and entered. His train of thought abruptly interrupted, the Failing Student Ghost glared furiously at the uninvited intruders.
His scalp hung over his ear like a rag, exposing his blood-red skull. He had nearly torn his eye sockets apart, too, leaving his entire face a horrifying mess of mangled flesh and blood.
[Side quest: Help the poor struggling student solve his difficult problem]
As the Failing Student Ghost grew angry, the surrounding air instantly turned icy. Books and stationery flew off the desks toward them as though controlled by some unseen force.
Ji Xun knocked aside a drawing compass hurtling toward their eyes. Jiang Yao pulled Deng Wen behind him and snapped, "What are you throwing a tantrum for?"
"So noisy. Stop interrupting my thoughts. Get out." The Failing Student Ghost anxiously scratched at his head, which had been stripped down to the skull. "It's so hard. I can't learn it. Mom's going to be angry."
Books kept flying at them. Jiang Yao tried shouting several times to get the Failing Student Ghost to calm down, but he had clearly lost himself in his obsession, endlessly repeating pleas like, "Don't be angry, Mom. I'll do better on the next test."
Ji Xun tried several times to approach him, but the books whirling rapidly around the Failing Student Ghost kept him at bay. He tried knocking one down with his knife, but the moment the book hit the floor, the full force of his blow rebounded onto the ghost.
Another wound split open the Failing Student Ghost's already battered body. Alarmed, Ji Xun hurriedly withdrew his knife.
"This isn't working," Jiang Yao said. "We need to stop him from hurting himself, fast."
After putting away his knife, Ji Xun tried approaching the Failing Student Ghost, but the spinning sheets of A4 paper were razor-sharp. Fortunately, his trench coat was made of a special material, or he would have ended up covered in cuts.
Hei Hei, who had been watching the commotion at Ji Xun's feet with blinking, beady black eyes, let out an angry squeak when he saw Ji Xun nearly get hurt.
Unfortunately, the sound had no force behind it whatsoever.
Jiang Yao impatiently nudged his little belly with the toe of his shoe. "Just be quiet for now. Can't you see you're annoying that baldy so much his eyes are practically rolling back?"
Hei Hei shot Jiang Yao an angry glare, then charged toward the Failing Student Ghost so fast the human eye could barely follow.
The thumb-sized mouse darted through a gap and reached the Failing Student Ghost's feet without any trouble. He climbed up his trouser leg onto the desk, stood upright, and fixed his beady black eyes on the ghost's blood-red ones.
The bloody haze in the Failing Student Ghost's eyes receded a little. Once his vision cleared, he saw a mouse standing right in front of him and screamed, "Ah! A mouse!"
It might have been hard to believe, but the Failing Student Ghost actually saw disdain and contempt in a mouse's eyes.
Hei Hei looked at Ji Xun as though seeking praise and raised his little paws toward him.
Ji Xun chuckled, walked over to the Failing Student Ghost, and tucked Hei Hei into his trench coat's large pocket. "You're pretty capable."
So Hei Hei was actually a Barrier-Breaking Mouse.
Pleased with the praise, Hei Hei shifted into a comfortable position and fell asleep in his pocket.
Still shaken, the Failing Student Ghost stared at Ji Xun's pocket. Then, getting a good look at the person beside him, he suddenly covered his mouth and said in disbelief, "Are you Deng Wen?"
Deng Wen paused. "You know me?"
The Failing Student Ghost excitedly rose from his chair. "We went to the same junior high. We even entered a math competition together once. Only you came first, and I came last."
After saying that, he scratched his head sheepishly.
Jiang Yao snorted. "Stop scratching. Keep that up and you'll scratch a hole right through your skull."
Deng Wen glared at him, then asked, "Why have you been staying here?"
The Failing Student Ghost lowered his eyes, looking miserable. "I'm too stupid. No matter what I do, I can't get it."
Jiang Yao expressed his sympathy. "It's not that we're too stupid. Those academic geniuses just aren't human."
As he spoke, he reached out to pat Deng Wen's head. Deng Wen angrily slapped his hand away and told the Failing Student Ghost, "Ignore him. I'll teach you."
Jiang Yao scoffed. Why weren't you ever this patient teaching me?
As the two chattered away about things Ji Xun couldn't understand at all, he sat on a desk with Jiang Yao, idly petting the mouse.
Hei Hei rolled onto his back and let Ji Xun poke his belly with a finger. "Squeak, squeak."
Ten minutes or so later, the Failing Student Ghost's delighted voice rang out.
"Oh!" His eyes shone as he gazed admiringly at Deng Wen. "It was that simple!"
Deng Wen smiled. "You got stuck on one approach. Think about it from another angle, and you'll find the answer."
The gloom surrounding the Failing Student Ghost dissipated. "Honestly, I was never cut out for studying," he sighed. "I never thought I'd still be working myself to death on practice problems after I died."
[Side quest "Help the struggling student solve his difficult problem" completed]
The Failing Student Ghost looked gratefully at Ji Xun and picked at his head again. "Were you the one who brought Deng Wen to help me? I don't have anything to thank you with. Here, take this."
[Side quest reward: The struggling student's skullcap]
Ji Xun: ...
Jiang Yao looked utterly at a loss. "That's disgusting!"
The Failing Student Ghost chuckled and reached for his head again, only to touch his own brain. "It's the thought that counts!"
Ji Xun put the skullcap into his inventory and asked, "Do you know where the others from Class Twelve are?"
The Failing Student Ghost shook his head blankly. "Hardly anyone comes here. But these past few days, a skeleton's been pacing up and down the corridor all the time. Pretty creepy."
Jiang Yao gave him a humorless smile. "How about looking in a mirror before calling someone else creepy? Who could be creepier than you?"
The Failing Student Ghost suddenly pointed toward the door. "Look, that's him!"
Ji Xun turned and saw a white skull pressed against the window by the classroom door.
The moonlight made the skull look even more sinister. Its mouth opened and closed gently, almost as though it were smiling.
"See? I told you he was creepy!" the Failing Student Ghost cried. "Every time, I think it's the homeroom teacher spying on us!"
Before you continue