Maoshan Academy of Dark Secret Techniques - Chapter 4 - The Second Ghost

The girl tapped Chen Yu on the shoulder. “Ah!”

Chen Yu was genuinely startled. The girl burst into laughter, nearly doubling over. “Look at you, a grown man scared so easily.”

Chen Yu quickly defended himself, explaining, “It’s just a normal reflex.”

The girl didn’t dwell on it and continued, “Only the principal and I know about this because no one else saw the schoolbag. After that night, those two people never returned to school. Some say they spotted them playing by the river with their schoolbags. Maybe they fell in? Both the school and their families called in a search team, but no one could find their bodies.

Not long after that incident, something even stranger happened. Late at night, after midnight, people would hear a child calling ‘Mommy’ from the Women’s Restroom. But every time the teachers went to investigate, the sound would disappear.

The principal realized the situation might escalate, so he ordered the restroom to be sealed off and built a new one on another part of the campus. The old restroom was then turned into the canteen. The principal probably thought that since the canteen would always be packed with people at mealtimes, even the boldest ghost wouldn’t risk showing up in front of thousands of students. But things were far from that simple.

After the restroom was converted into the canteen, students started complaining about finding strands of hair or fingernails in their food. At first, the school thought it was just carelessness on the part of the canteen staff, so they kept replacing the cooks multiple times.

Then one day, every single female staff member working in the canteen vanished without a trace. No one could find them. This incident caused widespread panic throughout the school.

Realizing how dire the situation had become, the school decided to shut down entirely, sending students home on an impromptu holiday. That’s why I’m at home playing instead of being in class right now.”

After hearing the girl’s story, Chen Yu had a good sense of what had happened. This case probably involved the ghosts he was looking for. Duanmu had told him there were both an evil ghost and a good ghost. And as for the ghost baby? Was it good or evil? One thing was clear: Chen Yu needed to visit that school.

After saying goodbye to the girl, Chen Yu went back to his room to plan his next move. How could he sneak into the school? And was the ghost baby an evil ghost or a good ghost? If it turned out to be an evil ghost, he’d have to escape as fast as possible. But if it was a good ghost, how could he communicate with it?

With these anxious thoughts swirling in his mind, Chen Yu eventually drifted off to sleep.

It wasn’t until the afternoon of the following day that Chen Yu lazily got out of bed.

Because the campus was crawling with police during the day, he knew he’d have to wait until nightfall to sneak in and investigate without being seen.

It was now around six o’clock in the evening. Chen Yu prepared to go downstairs to grab a bite to eat. Just as he reached the stairs, he ran into the girl coming up. Again? If she latched onto him now, his nighttime mission could be completely ruined.

The girl saw Chen Yu heading out and quickly blocked his way. “Where are you going? Are you going to the school? Take me with you-you promised.”

Chen Yu hastily made up an excuse and explained, “I’m just going out to get some food. The school thing isn’t urgent yet. When I go, I’ll definitely call you.”

“Okay, but you have to call me,” she insisted.

“Sure.” Chen Yu readily agreed, though inwardly he was already scheming his own plan.

After managing to shake off the girl, Chen Yu headed downstairs and came across a small noodle shop. The place looked busy, suggesting the food might be pretty good.

By now, Chen Yu was absolutely famished. Without hesitation, he pushed open the door and entered, quickly finding a seat. A handsome waiter approached him with a polite smile. “Sir, what would you like to eat? Here’s the menu.”

“Beef noodles. Add extra chili,” Chen Yu said after scanning the menu briefly.

“Got it. Coming right up.”

Once the waiter walked away, Chen Yu began to feel that something was off. The noodle shop did indeed have plenty of customers, but all of them seemed lifeless, as though drained of vitality. Even the waiter felt odd-his movements were robotic, as if pre-programmed, lacking the natural energy and spontaneity of a real human. There was definitely something strange about this place.

Scanning the room, Chen Yu noticed that none of the customers, waiters, or chefs exhibited any signs of being ghosts. Everything seemed normal-but then, where was the owner of this shop?

Since he was already here, he would have to face whatever was going on sooner or later. Summoning his courage, Chen Yu made his way to the bar, determined to get some answers. He addressed the waiter he had spoken with earlier: “I’m a friend of your boss. Could you let me meet him? Please tell me where he is. We haven’t seen each other in years, and I’d really like to catch up.”

The waiter smiled faintly. “Oh, you’re a friend of the boss? Well, he’s not here at the moment, but the boss’s wife is in the kitchen, behind the restaurant. You could ask her.”

“Thanks! I’ll go check. Could you tell me how to get there?”

Following the waiter’s directions, Chen Yu proceeded through the side door toward the kitchen and its backyard. With every step, an oppressive feeling grew stronger, as if an invisible force of fear was slowly closing in. Clearly, there was something extraordinary-and potentially dangerous-waiting in the backyard.

As he neared his destination, Chen Yu halted, hesitating to take in that first look. If what awaited him was an evil ghost, what would he do then? Could he escape in time? His mind raced. “Okay,” Chen Yu thought, “I’ll just sneak a peek. Better to understand what I’m dealing with before making a move.”

Chen Yu crouched by the wall, secretly peeking inside. He saw a woman dressed in white with a classical demeanor sitting at a white computer desk, playing on the computer. Her shoulder-length hair made her look quite cute, just like an ordinary person.

However, Chen Yu’s face was as pale as a sheet, and his terrified eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something horrifying.

Indeed, Chen Yu possessed the ability to see spirits. Although this woman appeared human, to Chen Yu, she was entirely in a translucent state, her face horrifyingly pale. There was nothing particularly terrifying about her body, but it was clear at first glance that she was a female ghost.

Chen Yu held his breath, quietly slipped out of the kitchen, and walked into the main hall, suppressing his fear.

He sat back in his previous spot, hoping not to be discovered, just as the waiter brought over the beef noodles.

“Sir, have you seen our boss’s wife?”

“Ah, yes, yes, I saw her. Everything’s fine; you can go back to your work.”

At that moment, Chen Yu desperately wanted to run but feared that the female ghost inside would sense something was off. He held back his fear and finished the beef noodles, but he felt that something was still wrong. He glanced around at the dining crowd once more.

Humans possess three souls and seven spirits, but the people here only had one soul and one spirit. They were entirely like walking corpses; if they were missing even one soul or spirit, they wouldn’t just be dead-they wouldn’t even have the chance of reincarnation. Chen Yu was genuinely scared now. He threw down the money and dashed out of the noodle shop onto the street.

After catching his breath, he nervously analyzed the situation. This must be an evil ghost, and she was about to drain the souls of so many people.

If that’s the case, is the ghost baby at school a so-called good ghost? But a ghost baby that’s been abandoned right after birth must have a lot of resentment. What can I do to get it to help me? Who can help me now?

Chen Yu pounded his fist heavily against the wall, feeling ashamed. He had encountered two ghosts, but both were capable of murder. How was he supposed to face this? Was there even a chance for him to survive?

Chen Yu sat alone on a bench in the park, reflecting on everything-fear, dread, and helplessness.

The time was nearing 11 p.m., and Chen Yu knew he couldn’t keep stalling like this. He had to make a decision. Was the good ghost the female ghost or the ghost baby? Based on the current developments, the ghost baby incident involved people disappearing, but there had been no bodies found. It was possible that the victims were simply being held somewhere by the ghost baby. On the other hand, while the female ghost hadn’t killed anyone yet, she had begun to absorb souls. If this reasoning was correct, Chen Yu concluded that he should focus on finding the ghost baby first. However, he needed an ally to support him.

Chen Yu made up his mind to track down the ghost baby’s whereabouts. He headed to the hotel and found the girl. Approaching her, he said, “I’m going to the school tonight to investigate this matter. It’s too dangerous, so you absolutely cannot come with me. I don’t want to put you in harm’s way. If I haven’t come out by 2 a.m., call the police. Got it?”