Chapter 5 Youthful Malice (Part One)

After Wang Nana finished speaking, a chilly breeze suddenly rose from nowhere, accompanied by a howling sound that flowed past the boys and girls. Each of them subconsciously pursed their lips, falling into silence.

Past the surrounding wall, in front of the house, atop a wooden staircase rotten halfway through, grass knee-high waved as if something had passed through it. You could barely make out an old tire and a rusted bicycle lying quietly within, grass blades spinning up into the sky. Apart from the desolate wind, there was silence, making the surrounding scenery appear even more desolate.

"So that's why this place looks so broken."

Shi Hui said, feeling emotional.

"Everyone is scared to come here, no one wants to buy this place. The real estate agents won't come, and the demolition teams don't want to catch this bad luck..."

"Does that mean if we go in, we'll also be finished?"

"Yeah. So, do you still dare to go in?"

Wang Nana, as if issuing a challenge, lifted her chin.

"Haha, Nana, you're really underestimating us."

Yan Mingjun rubbed his hands together, his tone excited. Since this was a chance to show off and prove himself in front of others, his interest had been piqued.

"You guys just wait here, I'll go in first..."

"Hold on, what if there's someone inside?"

Lin Xingjie couldn't help but stop him.

"No way, if someone really lived here, it wouldn't look like a ghost house." While speaking, Yan Mingjun had already started walking up the steps, "I'll know once I go in and take a look."

"..."

Lin Xingjie watched as the other pushed open the door and entered, realizing she no longer had any reason to stop them. She couldn't expect this group of delinquent high school students to have the public conscience "not to enter without permission"; these people always ignored warning signs, and breaking rules even brought them joy.

"Leave your things behind."

While saying this, the remaining two tossed their backpacks into the grass and began to stagger toward the door.

"Xing Jie, aren't you coming too?"

Wang Nana stood at the doorway, smiling and gesturing to her.

Lin Xingjie didn't answer. When the backs of the others had vanished at the doorway, she squatted down, piled their backpacks together, and quickly checked through their contents. Nothing was amiss.

She crouched there, thinking she should just leave these people behind and go on her own...

Lin Xingjie raised her head, looking at the rumored haunted house.

— Suddenly, a thrill passed through the depths of her heart, as if something was calling out to her.

The girl's gaze was firmly captivated.

How strange...

Thinking this, she stood up, her steps unknowingly carrying her towards the house.

...

The moment Lin Xingjie stepped through the door of the house, she came back to her senses and unconsciously furrowed her delicate brows.

Dirty, gloomy, old—the inside of the house was as if from another world, the pitch-black room seemed covered by an old dishcloth, concealing things that only belong to the dark of night.

The door behind her closed slowly with a creaking dull noise, blocking the daylight from the outer world.

"It's so dark..."

The dark-haired girl hastily turned around and found the door could easily be pushed open. Plus, with the broken door lock, it surely wouldn't withstand a bump, which allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief.

If only she had brought a fruit knife with her, she thought, at least she would have felt a bit more secure. Too bad she had left in such a hurry that morning.

Though people at school basically spread rumors about her being a fierce and violent girl, she had never actually started a fight. But Lin Xingjie lived in such an environment where she frequently encountered various threats, many of which came from physically dominant males. It was necessary for her to find ways to protect herself.

Only by forcing herself to show a ferocious side could she make people back off.

Of course, avoiding danger in advance was equally important, but often, she had no choice.

Her rational mind told her she should turn around and leave, but that strange feeling came again, almost as if a part of her body was calling out to her… She mocked herself for possibly having a broken head, but she couldn't resist the impulse to find out what it was no matter what.

Lin Xingjie cautiously approached the area near the kitchen on the first floor. Probably because of the dim lighting, she scanned the room but didn't catch sight of the others; she could only faintly hear the unrestrained laughter of the youths as if it was coming from far away.

"Hey, where are you guys?"

No one responded.

Lin Xingjie called out their names one by one and finally heard a reply.

"Over here, on the second floor!"

"Come up!"

…

The girl circled the first floor several times before discovering the inconspicuous corner where the spiraling staircase lay hidden.

From somewhere, there came a rustling sound. The noise was close, as if it was happening right by her ear, but invisible and intangible; like a mouse gnawing at scraps within the walls or scurrying across the floor.

As she ascended the stairs, she tried to ignore the myriad sounds around her, covering her nose and mouth with her sleeve, making every effort to avoid the thick dust hanging in the air from entering her respiratory tract. As she went up, Lin Xingjie constantly felt a sticky and uncomfortable sensation in her hair.

Her footfalls on the stair treads produced a dull echo. Due to age and erosion, the unstable structure shook with even the slightest vibration.

The girl cautiously ascended, fearing a misstep, as she looked up towards the top of the stairs. The end of the staircase was shrouded in a dim glow as if it were the entrance to a dark realm.

*

"I didn't hear water. But this place is about to be covered in cobwebs, it's so dirty... But speaking of which, Nana, you're really clever, thinking of such an excuse. When Lin Xingjie said she didn't want to go to karaoke, I thought we were done for this time."

The long-haired young man stepped out of the bathroom, shaking his wet hands after washing them.

"It's not just an excuse. It's just that..." Wang Nana wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck and laughed, "This so-called 'haunted house exploration', we've actually been here before. Not to mention ghosts, we didn't even see a shadow."

Yan Mingjun thought for a moment and suddenly laughed.

"I actually think that if there really is a ghost here, it must be a female ghost."

"Why?"

Wang Nana asked curiously.

"Otherwise, why wouldn't it jump out and scare us?" Yan Mingjun's face displayed a lewd expression, "It must be that she became shy and ran away when we were having a blast here today."

Wang Nana spat in disgust, then laughed along with him.

At that moment, Shi Hui came out of an adjacent bedroom, walked over to the two, and quietly slapped Wang Nana's butt, then said with a laugh, "I really should thank you this time. If it had been just the two of us guys, Lin Xingjie probably wouldn't have come along."

Wang Nana seemed unfazed by his gesture, but she blushed and said:

"Weren't you the ones who asked me to distract her attention? When people are scared, they're less likely to notice our actions."

"Hey, Ah Hui, later I'll take Nana to the adjacent room, we won't disturb you two for now, but after that..." Yan Mingjun patted his shoulder with a chuckle, "Remember to save some fun for me, will you?"

"No problem, no problem," Shi Hui readily agreed.

…

Wang Nana folded her arms across her chest and looked at the two men walking arm in arm, her eyes revealing disdain.

She was a girl after all, and couldn't help but feel repulsed by them brazenly discussing such matters in front of her.

Despite that, Wang Nana agreed to cooperate with them. On one hand, her spendthrift habits and the urge to show off in front of her girlfriends all relied on guys like Shi Hui and Yan Mingjun; on the other hand, Wang Nana actually knew Lin Xingjie quite well.

That's why she was so actively involved.

Perhaps even Lin Xingjie herself wouldn't have guessed that she wasn't the only one at their school who knew of her. Because most people would go out of their way to inquire about her class after a chance encounter with her on campus.

Lin Xingjie was exceptionally beautiful, with a unique and solitary style that exuded a distant and cold aloofness, making her stand out among her female peers as someone very proud. Although she had no friends at school, there were many who secretly paid attention to her.

Wang Nana was certainly one of them. She wasn't exactly unattractive, but compared to the other girl, she felt deeply inferior: Lin Xingjie's skin was so pale it seemed to glow, while her own, despite her young age, had already been ravaged by the excessive use of makeup, appearing rather sallow and rough; and compared to that model-like slim and tall figure, her own thin build could only be described as parched.

Of course, there were other girls at school who were prominent enough to cause jealousy; but they not only had good looks and a good temperament, a wide circle of friends, and a well-connected family, but they were also top students, the banner of academic achievement in the eyes of the teachers—everybody was too busy flattering them to dare say anything.

Lin Xingjie was different. She was always alone at school. And Wang Nana had found out through private inquiries that the girl lived in a small alley and seemed to be from a single-parent home, her living conditions were in fact worse than most of her peers. Even so, Lin Xingjie still blossomed like a lotus out of clear water.

Seeing the two men she had once been intimate with now both excitedly discussing another woman, completely ignoring her, Wang Nana felt a surge of intense emotions: biting jealousy mixed with a perverse sense of pleasure…