Chapter 109: The Essential Fourth Player, Part 2

If she were to look down now, as the voice behind her had instructed, what would she see? Would she find her ankles clutched tightly by a pair of ghastly, pale hands? The very thought made Shi Xianyu’s skin crawl.

"I can't look down either," she replied, sounding troubled.

The person behind her asked, "Why not?"

"Because… because…" Shi Xianyu pondered this dilemma, "looking down gives me a double chin."

"…………"

The chill around her ankles intensified. Shi Xianyu suspected the entity might be embarrassed and angry. Not daring to hold out any longer, she pulled an amulet from her pocket, squeezed her eyes shut, and swung around to throw it toward her feet.

She heard a sharp, piercing shriek.

Without daring to open her eyes, she bolted. She sprinted up the slope with all her might. Once she reached the top, she saw a school directly ahead. Even an immortal with as good a temper as Shi Xianyu couldn't help but curse: "What a pack of lies! They just tricked me into thinking the school was down below!"

She couldn't stay outside any longer, so she hurried toward the school. However, she couldn't find the main entrance. Separated from the school's perimeter wall by two rows of buildings, she wandered about, but instead of finding the gate, she ended up in a dead-end alley.

In any other world, she might have treated the extra distance as a scenic stroll, but in a place like this, lingering for even a second meant being hunted by ghosts. Shi Xianyu’s anxiety mounted. With the school right in front of her, why couldn't she get in? If she kept wandering, she might run into something even worse. Maybe she should… climb the wall?

There was some debris piled up in the alley—perfect for a step. Shi Xianyu climbed without hesitation; in times like these, hygiene was the least of her concerns. She dragged a few trash cans to the corner and scrambled up bravely. She stepped down, only to land on something cold and squishy—

Shi Xianyu: "???"

She looked down and realized she had missed the lid of the trash can and had stepped on… on… well… how to describe it? It was a lump of blackness, like a shadow?

There was a patch of pitch-black darkness in the corner of the alley. She had assumed it was just a lack of light and hadn't paid it any mind, but now she realized… was this shadow alive?

Goosebumps erupted in a dense, prickling wave across her ankles and up her legs. She cautiously retracted her foot.

Fortunately, the shadow in the dead end didn't lash out; it merely shifted sluggishly. Shi Xianyu widened her eyes, finally realizing what she had done. She jumped down from the trash can and hurriedly dragged away all the bins she had moved.

Good grief, the fact that this shadow hadn't killed her meant it had a saintly temper! If the roles were reversed and someone piled trash on her, she would definitely lose her cool!

Once the bins were gone, the shadow in the corner seemed more at ease and stretched slightly. The light in the alley grew even dimmer, to the point where the original paint on the walls was no longer visible. Though she couldn't identify the nature of the entity, this was clearly no place to linger. Rubbing her chilled ankles, Shi Xianyu hurried away.

Leaving the alley, she had to patiently search for the school gate while remaining vigilant against ghosts popping up at any moment. The pressure was immense. She felt a pang of heartache just thinking about the amulet she had already used. She hadn't even met the person who summoned her yet, and she was already down one charm! She didn't know how long she would be trapped in this world; if it was like her previous assignments, where she had to stay for months, would her supply of amulets hold up?

She had plenty of materials for crafting charms in her storage space, but she wasn't sure if her spiritual power could handle the strain.

*Thump, thump…*

*Thump, thump…*

Shi Xianyu heard the sound of a bouncing ball again. It was like a haunting spirit that refused to leave. She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore it, pressing forward, but the sound grew louder and closer.

She reached another fork in the road and turned along the school wall, finally spotting the main gate. But at the same time, the little boy bouncing the ball was standing right there!

Shi Xianyu gasped, her heart in turmoil. This was too difficult! Climb the wall, and there’s a ghost; take the gate, and there’s a ghost! Was there no path left for the living?

The bouncing sound stopped. The boy hugged the ball, his sunken eye sockets fixed on her with a sinister gaze. It felt like being targeted by a viper in the dark, sending a chill down her spine.

Shi Xianyu turned and ran! This was no longer about getting into the school; it was about surviving the little monster. She sprinted, not daring to stop for a second.

The bouncing sound resumed! Shi Xianyu was forced to run faster, and the ball behind her suddenly flew toward her! It grazed her leg, slammed hard into a rusted fire hydrant, and rebounded toward her face with alarming speed.

Terrified, she didn't dare stop, racing wildly through the desolate, empty streets. No matter how fast she ran, the ball stayed right behind her, constantly nearly striking her, as if it were a cruel prank designed to terrify her.

*Bang!*

The ball slammed into a street-side trash can, spilling garbage everywhere. Shi Xianyu accidentally stepped on the debris and fell in a heap.

The ball rolled over slowly and stopped beside her.

Her knee throbbed, making her hiss in pain. She gritted her teeth and sat up, turning to look. What had rolled up to her wasn't a ball at all—it was a child's head. The boy's sunken black eyes stared straight at her, and a faint black mist radiated from his pale face. He grinned and said, "Big sister, come play with me…"

Shi Xianyu’s heart sank. She took a deep breath and said, "Big sister has to go to school, but I can find someone else to play with you."

She stood up, ignoring whether the boy agreed or not, grabbed the head from the ground, ran a few steps into an alley, and, taking him by surprise, hurled it deep into the corner. Then, she ran off without looking back!

She used the fastest speed of her life to dash to the school gate.

Excellent! No ball! No ghost!

She didn't want to spend even half a second outside anymore. She pulled open the iron gate of the school and was about to enter when someone behind her called out:

"W-w-wait a moment!"

Perhaps because the voice sounded genuinely panicked, it felt somewhat human, so Shi Xianyu looked back.

It was a young man wearing a traditional old-fashioned jacket. A bagua mirror hung from his chest, a peachwood sword was tied to his waist, and a collection of strange, scattered items dangled from his backpack.

The man held a peculiar disc, looked at Shi Xianyu, and asked nervously, "Are… are you human?"

Shi Xianyu: "…………"

After a moment of silence, she said, "I am not human."

The man's eyes went wide!

Shi Xianyu added calmly, "I am a descendant… of an immortal."

The man: "…………"

The young man let out an awkward laugh. "Ah, a fellow practitioner. My apologies, my apologies. May I ask which mountain you hail from? I am a disciple of the Chang Le Palace. I heard there were students trapped here, so I rushed over to save them."

Shi Xianyu thought for a moment. Her own immortal palace had grown quite large, but she had never actually given it a name. What would be a good name for it?