81 - Face the Mistakes

Translated by rabbitrisu

The first question was straight to the point, and the one who asked the question was Su Zimo, who had nothing to do with the entire matter.

Hua Xiaowan couldn’t even figure out why this good-looking young man who was Qi Yang’s classmate came to be involved with the incident, since he really had nothing to do with them… there was also no relationship with Zhang Xiaoqing!

But such a person didn’t even see her hint, didn’t choose the simplest method, and asked a question that was considered taboo in the traditional pen fairy game — the ghost’s cause of death.

Was this guy the rescuers sent by the monkey? ¹

All of Hua Xiaowan’s thoughts exploded in her mind. Within such an environment that could go to hell at any moment, all optimistic thoughts in her mind had been killed. She only hoped that Zhang Xiaoqing would keep her alive.

Hua Xiaowan even glanced at Qi Yan, who was trembling and looking around in disgust. She didn’t think he was any better than Lin Zhe except for having money at home.

But now…

After regaining her senses, Hua Xiaowan began to stare at Lin Zhe who was questioned by Su Zimo. She felt that the boy who had been devastated to the point of mental breakdown for the past four years would probably remain silent and prolong their time.

But what Hua Xiaowan didn’t expect was that Lin Zhe took a few deep breaths after hearing the question, then said–

“This matter is our fault.”

“Four years ago, when we were in high school, since everyone around us was panicking about entrance exams, the three of us thought of a terrible idea. We wanted to fake some kind of spiritual event, then disappear for a while.” Lin Zhe lowered his head and said in a light but clear voice, “According to the plan, we would be cursed by the pen fairy after making a mistake while playing, and then disappear one by one.”

“While the matter was kept secret, we also needed an insider who could prove it for us, so we chose Zhang Xiaoqing.” Lin Zhe still had his head lowered and didn’t look at anyone. “We arranged the order of the pen fairy’s curse, and specially arranged for Zhang Xiaoqing to be the last one. We wanted to wait for the three of us to disappeear, and then when Zhang Xiaoqing was terrified but found out that she wasn’t dead, we would suddenly appear in front of her and startle her.”

“But then.. Zhang Xiaoqing, she…” Lin Zhe looked up to Hua Xiaowan and lowered his head again. “I don’t know where, but she heard a rumour saying that as long as the order of the pen fairy’s curse was broken, the remaining people could be saved. After hearing the rumour, she, who was originally fourth in line, jumped off the roof and ‘saved’ me, who was third in line.”

After speaking, Lin Zhe remained silent for a long time.

“Just because of a rumour?” Qi Yang muttered to himself, as if he didn’t believe it.

“There are always… always people who are impulsive.” Hua Xiaowan stared at the middle of the desks, completely afraid to look elsewhere.

[Pen fairy, pen fairy, tell me who you want to choose?]

Zhang Xiaoqing’s voice sounded again, and the hands that were joined together began to move along the desk again, making a harsh sound as they rubbed across the wood, confirming the truth in what Lin Zhe said before.

[It’s your turn.]

Finally, the pen stopped in front of Wen Xiaoyu.

The moment that the pen stopped, Su Zimo noticed that Hua Xiaowan, who was sitting across from them, breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Wen Xiaoyu wouldn’t ask any dramatic questions.

However, Su Zimo saw Wen Xiaoyu glance at Hua Xiaowan with a complicated expression, then directly ask, “I want to ask Hua Xiaowan why she told Zhang Xiaoqing that false rumour!”

“……”

The atmosphere instantly thickened. Wen Xiaoyu not only asked a question, but also indirectly pointed out that the rumour Zhang Xiaoqing heard was from Hua Xiaowan, which saved Su Zimo and Zhang Xiaoqing a question.

But before that, Su Zimo really hadn’t noticed that Wen Xiaoyu would actually target her former friend like that.

“Wen Xiaoyu, why…” Before answering, Hua Xiaowan looked at the friend who had always followed her and responded in disbelief. Her voice sounded like she was gritting her teeth.

“If it weren’t for you, would Lin Zhe have become like this?” Wen Xiaoyu sneered unashamedly.

Ever since Wen Xiaoyu’s appearance in the restaurant, Su Zimo could feel that her attitude towards Hua Xiaowan was completely unlike Zhang Xiaoqing’s story. After hearing Wen Xiaoyu’s words, Su Zimo finally understood that her attitude had changed because of Lin Zhe.

Looking at the degenerate Lin Zhe, although Su Zimo hadn’t expected it, he felt it was reasonable. After all, Lin Zhe was a boy who had fascinated Zhang Xiaoqing’s heart at the beginning. It wasn’t surprising that Wen Xiaoyu looked at him differently.

[It’s your turn.] Zhang Xiaoqing spoke again.

“Creak.” Hua Xiaowan heard her chair slide back a bit.

“I’ll talk!” Hua Xiaowan glanced at her chair, then was scared into a cold sweat by the ‘Wanzhang Abyss’, and immediately spoke. ² “I had to do it. Lin Zhe was already with me at the time, but he wouldn’t turn away from others. He always accepted Zhang Xiaoqing’s kindness, but was always afraid of his family’s accusations and was unwilling to confess about our relationship. I used the rumour to make Zhang Xiaoqing back off because of difficulties, to make her understand that she didn’t love Lin Zhe at all!”

“Yes, I made up a lot of lies to make Zhang Xiaoqing back off, to make her really believe that Wen Xiaoyu and I had accidents because of the curse, and she really believed that she and Lin Zhe would also have accidents! I lied to her and said we were best friends, and I sent her unwarranted rumours by text messages!” Hua Xiaowan suddenly confessed everything, no longer caring about her image in Qi Yang’s eyes.

In other words, she had no image at that moment.

“But I really didn’t think she would commit suicide!”

Although Hua Xiaowan admitted everything, she still didn’t dare to look directly in front of her at Zhang Xiaoqing. “And then we went back to school early because we wanted to explain, but we were a step too late!”

Qi Yang looked at Hua Xiaowan, dumbfounded. He never thought that having a beautiful girlfriend would cause him so much trouble.

“I thought you were the one who wouldn’t confess.” Lin Zhe scratched the back of his neck with both hands, and spoke, slightly buckled. “If you told me, I would have refused. As if I promised you to do that stupid thing in the first place! Why didn’t you tell me! If you told me, these things wouldn’t have happened!”

[Pen fairy, pen fairy, tell me who you want to choose?]

The pencil that drew ravines into the table began to move apathetically again, but its speed was slowed because of the crossing gouges.

“We’ve already said what we can say! Please let us go!”

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”

“We were wrong!”

“Spare us!”

“If there’s anything we can do for you, we’re willing to do it! We can burn paper for you, we can burn anything! Anything, please!”

Su Zimo calmly watched the farce in front of him.

He could feel that this was the limit of Hua Xiaowan and the others.

They confessed everything and said ‘I’m sorry.’ Although the latter may be very inconsistent, ordinary humans could, at most, only do that while in this environment being persecuted by a ghost.

They were so scared that they couldn’t keep their rationality to analyze things.

Zhang Xiaoqing seemed to understand that, but she didn’t just let the pranksters leave, nor did she designate the next person. Instead, she controlled the pencil to keep drawing circles on the desk, as if it would never stop.

Su Zimo turned to look at Zhang Xiaoqing, only to find that she had closed her eyes again.

Every time she closes her eyes, she seems to be using Ghost Call’s ability, so only when she tied Ghost Eyes of the Blind around her eyes could that pattern avoid being discovered.

Of course, Hua Xiaowan and the others had no time to care about that.

At the same time, the cell phones of all four people in the room rang. Various ringtones also appeared in the illusion, so they didn’t notice that Su Zimo’s phone was completely silent.

Of course, no matter how loud the ringtones were, the four of them sat motionless, not daring to answer the phone.

[Your phones rang, take a look.]

Zhang Xiaoqing’s voice rang within the four people’s ears, and then the pen fairy’s pencil stopped instantly in the center of the desk.

No one dared to let go of each other’s hands, so they could only fumble for a while with their free hand, and finally place all four phones on the table.

At a glance, everyone’s notification bar was full of messages and missed calls.

The weirdest thing was… everyone’s phones were still getting calls. But while everyone was afraid to answer, it was as if an invisible hand was manipulating their phones. As soon as a call came, it would be cut off instantly.

Hua Xiaowan watched the unknown messages and calls appear, then found that her phone automatically switched to a messaging app. Messages with exclamation marks and question marks appeared in front of Hua Xiaowan.

[Xiaowan, what happened with the recording you sent over? What happened to Zhang Xiaoqing and her jumping off the building? What are you guys saying?] Among the people who sent the messages was a friend Hua Xiaowan met in university.

[Hua Xiaowan, is the recording you sent over real? Didn’y you say you had nothing to do with Zhang Xiaoqing’s affairs?] There was a message from their high school class teacher.

[God, are you crazy? Why post that recording in the class and alumni group? Were you kidnapped? Is what you said true? Someone’s already posted it on social media platforms!] There were also messages in the high school classmates’ group chat.

[Hua Xiaowan, are you crazy? If you’re crazy, don’t send those kinds of messy things to your friends. Have you even sent a copy to your relatives? Even your second uncle just came to ask me if it was true. Did some classmates mess with your phone? I think you really are crazy! Today, get an overnight ride home. Come back to explain things to everyone!”

Even Hua Xiaowan’s mother sent a roaring voice message. It was loud enough that everyone in the room could hear it.

[Is what you said true?] On top of the others was a message from Zhang Xiaoqing’s parents.

In the past, Hua Xiaowan and the others left their contact information to show that they cared about Zhang Xiaoqing’s parents. But now, the short message sent from the other party gave Hua Xiaowan chills along her back.

“The news I received is similar.” Wen Xiaoyu smirked. “Hahahahahahahaha. Zhang Xiaoqing, you bastard. This trick is so cruel! I really admire you!”

Because everyone could hear the roar from Hua Xiaowan’s mother, they could all guess what kinds of messages the others received.

“My phone didn’t send any message, but I sent the recording to social media platforms. I also @’ed ³ all my friends and many official accounts.” After Qi Yang glanced at his cell phone, before he could think about what happened to it, he sighed with relief. Fortunately, his treatment was different from the other three.

The three of their faces were ashy, watching various interactions and reposts on social media, watching oncoming questions from all over the country. They knew everything… there was no way to turn back.

[I regret it.] Zhang Xiaowaing, who was sitting there quietly, let go. The pencil that had been standing upright on the table disappeared, and everyone’s hands instantly released.

The ‘Wanzhang Abyss’ under their feet disappeared, and the surrounding area turned into the bright classroom with clear windows from the beginning.

Only, Zhang Xiaoqing’s eyes kept leaking blood tears.

[I truly believed what you said. I really thought I would die. I thought that instead of two people being cursed to die because of the pen fairy, it would be better to save one person in the end. It would be something to be remembered about my mediocre life.] Zhang Xiaoqing sat there and whispered softly.

[But I didn’t expect that I would just hurt my family so that they couldn’t forget it in this life. And the person I wanted to save at first, I wish I could forget forever.] Zhang Xiaoqing shook her head helplessly. [I’m really stupid.]

[The last thing I regret after that life is that I jumped off the roof.] Zhang Xiaoqing slowly shut her eyes. [With this pain and regret for my stupidity, I will stay here and atone before leaving this world forever.]

Although Zhang Xiaoqing closed her eyes, Su Zimk knew that the last words she said were partly for her, and partly for Su Zimo.

The ghosts trapped in the nightmare world already had difficulty disappearing, so in the end, Ghost Call would stay in An Yu Yi Yu.

[Face what you’ve done. After all, I’ve never left.] Zhang Xiaoqing’s final words were given to the pranksters who had escaped reality for over three years.

The windows of the illusionary classroom were originally full of white mist, but after Zhang Xiaoqing finished speaking, a dazzling white light suddenly lit up outside the window. Everyone present couldn’t help but close their eyes.

When Su Zimo and the others opened their eyes again, they found that they had actually returned to the table at the restaurant.

It’s just that the table, which could only accommodate four pepole, was tightly squeezed with six people at that moment. Even Lin Zhe and Wen Xiaoyu were squeezed into either side.

“Ah!” The three people shouted a few times in sequence, causing all types of people in the crowded restaurant to look at them, then each other.

After they recovered, before saying anything else, they picked up their phones, hoping that what they had just experienced in the illusion just now was really an illusion.

But after reading the explosive news on their phones, Hua Xiaowan and the others leaned weakly on the table. They seemed to have no soul and no vitality.

Classmates, teachers, friends, and relatives had all received messages from Hua Xiaowan. The number of reposts on social media had increased at an incredible rate.

They couldn’t hide anything.

Even if they still wanted to struggle, Zhang Xiaoqing’s words remained in their ears – [Face what you’ve done. After all, I’ve never left.]

What they had to face was not only the pressure of public opinion. There may be something even more terrifying.

But at that moment, there was no other path but to accept it.

“It seems that the service here is very slow.” Su Zimo rose from the table and passed the others as he was leaving, then turned and said goodybye. “Then I will go ahead, sorry.”

“Wait, I have to go too.” At that moment, Qi Yang didn’t want to stay near Hua Xiaowan and the others, so after seeing Su Zimo rise, he even jumped out of the seat and walked behind Su Zimo to avoid them.

Halfway through, Qi Yang took a few steps back, placed some hundred-yuan bills on the table, and walked away again.

“Su Zimo!”

Qi Yang stopped Su Zimo as he was about to leave the restaurant. He paused in front of him with a familiar gesture, and said with a complicated expression, “Don’t tell anyone about this matter.”

“It has nothing to do with me.” Su Zimo also used familiar motions to go around him.

“Actually, you’re a pretty good guy.” Qi Yang didn’t stop Su Zimo again that time, but said to his back, “But I still prefer the sweet, fragrant, and soft ones!”

“……”

Because the back door of An Yu Yi Yu would lead to the place where he last opened the door in the real world, Su Zimo had to take a taxi the store on Xincheng Street to be able to return to the Su family manor in Shoushan as quickly as possible.

If he decided to be lazy at that moment and went directly from the university town to An Yu Yi Yu through the door, then Su Zimo could only fly back to Shoushan.

After going all the way back to the store, Su Zimo watched Ghost Call on the counter in a daze for a while, then asked Ghost Umbrella, “If someone suddenly says that I’m not sweet, fragrant, and soft, what do they mean?”

Su Zimo couldn’t figure out what Qi Yang meant.

“Bang!”

The glass in Ghost Umbrella’s hand suddenly fell to the ground and shattered.

Su Zimo was about to walk over to help clean up, when he suddenly felt something stick to his neck and sniff. As he turned his head, he saw that Ghost Umbrella had appeared behind him.

“It means that he missed it.” The ghost umbrella stretched out his hand and put it on Su Zimo’s shoulder, but it was dodged by Su Zimo. “Boss is definitely sweet and soft.”

“……”

*

Xincheng Street became busy again when it was nearing five o’clock. People came to the sidewalk outside of An Yu Yi Yu after work and school. The piano of the store played welcoming music to greet guests, but there weren’t many guests in Su Zimo’s store.

Some people just passed by in a rush, took a glance inside but didn’t understand what the store was selling, then turned and left.

Some people would stop by the shop because of Ghost Umbrella’s free drinks, listen to the soothing music, and relax for a while.

Just as Su Zimo was about to close the shop and go home, the door to An Yu Yi Yu was pushed open again.

A young lady came in through the door. Her beautiful long hair was pulled back, and she was wearing a rather ancient dress modified to be more modern. Su Zimo saw that she was a lady with the temperament of a humble, jade-like daughter, and he had met her before.

Last night, this lady stood at the door of Qin Yange with Qi Yang.

He still remembered that this lady was called Wan Yu, his high school class leader.

“Su Zimo?” Wan Yu was taken aback when she saw Su Zimo upon entering the store. “You also rushed back to Jiangdu from Shoushan overnight? Are you studying in Jiangdu now.. or opening a shop?”

“Welcome.” Su Zimo pretended not to know her. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Footnotes

<ol>Reference to journey to the west again, it’s meant to ridicule the person in question. So this is an idiom for a very bad situation, but it’s also referencing Wanzhang Cliff. Wanzhang Cliff and a nice circular waterfall can be seen through the glass bridge at Qingyuan in Guangdong. It’s very pretty! @ was in the raws</ol>