Chapter 24.1: Night Rituals and Hidden Truths

The rooftop wind howled louder now, as if echoing a warning only Shi Mo could hear.

She took a cautious step back from the stairwell.

Empty.

But her instincts told her otherwise.

Someone—or something—had led her here.

And it wasn't Bei Ling.

Back in the dorm, Fu Yunshen paced the room.

"Where is she?" he muttered.

Zhou Zhi slurped noodles on his bed. "Probably chasing ghosts again."

Fu Yunshen shot him a glare. "She wouldn't go alone without telling us."

Zhou Zhi blinked. "Are we worried now?"

Fu Yunshen grabbed his coat. "Stay here."

"Wait—do I get ghost hazard pay?"

"No."

On the rooftop, Shi Mo pulled out a talisman, just in case.

A faint whisper brushed past her ear.

She turned sharply.

Nothing.

But the Gu worm inside her stirred uneasily.

"It's watching…"

She stepped forward and found a folded piece of paper taped under the bench—almost invisible from above.

She opened it.

In faint handwriting, barely legible:

"She never wanted to die.""They pushed her.""Under the desk… the shoes."

Her brows furrowed.

Under the desk? Whose?

And the shoes—were they the red ones from the earlier haunting?

She returned to the dorm just as Fu Yunshen appeared in the stairwell.

"You left without a word," he said flatly.

"Got a message."

"From who?"

"I thought Bei Ling," Shi Mo replied, handing him the note. "But it wasn't her."

He read the scribbled words, jaw tightening. "Someone's toying with you."

Shi Mo sighed. "No. Someone's asking for help."