121: Why is it red?

[That night, I accidentally found a diary in the attic that recorded the spirit pen game. It said that summoning the spirit pen could grant any wish you had. I desperately wanted to be accepted [into the school], so I found a few friends to try it with.

But I never expected...]

Before Streamer could finish reading, Yu Shi closed the laptop. “Alright, stop looking. Come on, let’s set up and start.”

She watched as Yu Shi placed the pile of items on the floor. First was a large piece of white paper, and around it, he placed several white candles.

“Come on, light them, close the curtains, and turn off the lights,” Yu Shi commanded.

Chen Xiaohu and Zheng Feilong immediately got to work.

Streamer followed along, lighting the candles. Up until now, she hadn't felt anything scary at all.

But when the lights were turned off, the few people sat around the white paper, and when she looked up, she could see them dimly in the dark.

For some unknown reason, she suddenly started to feel a little cold.

The spirit pen game is very simple; you just need to hold the pen and chant, “spirit pen, oh spirit pen, I am your present life, you are my past life. If you wish to continue our bond, please draw a circle on the paper.”

Yu Shi was the first to play. He tried it, and sure enough, the pen moved, drawing a circle on the paper.

Everyone involuntarily swallowed, and Streamer’s heart rate couldn't help but quicken.

Yu Shi, however, spoke calmly, “As long as we follow what the post said afterward and send it away, there won’t be any problems.”

He then asked, “Will I pass my exam tomorrow?”

A checkmark quickly appeared on the paper, and Yu Shi curled his lips into a smile.

“Alright, alright, let me try,” Zheng Feilong took the pen. He asked some unknown question, and a checkmark also appeared on the paper.

Next was Streamer. Streamer pondered for a moment and silently asked in her heart, “spirit pen, oh spirit pen, is this game very scary?”

Then she saw that her hand hadn't moved at all, yet the pen in her grip was drawn by something, tracing a checkmark on the paper.

The moment the pen moved, she could even feel a chill behind her.

It felt like ice that hadn't melted for ten thousand years was pressed tightly against her body.

She shivered, and the pen in her hand was placed into Chen Xiaohu’s hand.

She looked at Chen Xiaohu and saw him staring intently at the pen. The flickering candlelight made his face shift between light and shadow, and she felt an involuntary chill.

“I inexplicably feel like his gaze is a little terrifying,” she complained to the viewers in the live stream.

After that, Chen Xiaohu said something unknown, and the pen forcefully drew a red checkmark on the paper.

The tip of the pen nearly tore through the paper as it moved across it.

Streamer only felt colder.

Suddenly, a gust of wind from nowhere made the candlelight flicker wildly. Yu Shi quickly shouted, “Stop playing! Send it away immediately.”

The four people gripped the pen again. Yu Shi, as the initiator, led the chanting of the spell to send the spirit away: “spirit pen, spirit pen, you are my past life, I am your present life. Thank you for answering our questions. Our bond ends here. Please return to your place.”

They finished the chant.

The room was dead silent. Only the faint crackling sound of the candle flames flickering could be heard.

The pen did not move.

It remained firmly pinned to the glaring red checkmark on the paper, as if welded in place.

“Say... say it again!” Zheng Feilong’s voice trembled.

They finished chanting the spell a second time.

The pen still didn't budge.

“What exactly happened!” Yu Shi became annoyed. He quickly scrambled up to check the post.

It turned out that the entire post described the same situation they were in: the spirit pen had not been sent away at all.

At this moment, Streamer also started to feel scared. She vaguely felt that the sensation behind her was like someone resting their head on her shoulder.

That invisible chill made her afraid to even look back.

“How about... how about...” she suggested, “We burn it with fire.”

She remembered that in journey to the west, fire was said to be a Yang element, so maybe burning it would work.

As soon as she spoke, Zheng Feilong immediately rushed into the bathroom and brought out a basin. Then Yu Shi quickly threw the pen, candles, and white paper into it.

As the flames blazed fiercely, Streamer felt the weight behind her lighten.

“It should... be fine now.”

She said aloud.

[What happened?]

[It doesn't feel very scary. This game is quite interesting. I want to try it too.]

[Streamer is too timid, haha. A single pen scared you that badly.]

[It was a little scary just now, probably because the lights were off.]

The viewers in the live stream didn't feel anything, but only Streamer knew that she had been completely stiff and barely able to move.

She didn't know why she was so scared; she just felt enveloped by an inexplicable dread.

After burning it, they used water to extinguish the fire.

The group only relaxed after repeatedly confirming that they couldn't find the pen in the basin.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, Streamer suddenly realized, “That pen was black.”

How could it have drawn a red checkmark?

Instantly, goosebumps covered her entire body.

The scene flashed.

Streamer woke up. She was holding her books, ready to go to class, when she suddenly heard a startled cry, “Get out of the way! Someone is jumping!”

She quickly ran backward, watching as she went.

She saw a white figure gradually falling from the air, right before her eyes.

It was a very beautiful girl. The girl’s eyes seemed unfocused, and her face was staring directly toward Streamer.

“Thud!”

The dull sound wasn't a heavy object landing, but the books falling from Streamer’s hands onto the ground.

She froze in place, her pupils contracting in extreme terror.

The girl in the white dress fell less than five meters away from her, her limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Blood, like sinister red vines, rapidly spread out beneath her.

What suffocated Streamer the most were those eyes.

Empty, dead, and staring straight... at her.

“Ah!!!!!!”

The scene shifted, and Streamer was back in the dorm room, still shaken.

The others in the dorm room were silent until Zheng Feilong suddenly spoke, “It was Xiao Mei. How did she die?”

Chen Xiaohu, who had been looking down, spoke dully, “The police said it was suicide. I don't know the specific reason.”

“Was it because you broke up with her?” Zheng Feilong looked at Chen Xiaohu.

Chen Xiaohu suddenly looked up. “What does that have to do with me? Didn’t you see the police found evidence on her phone that she had... that kind of relationship with many men?”

“We broke up a long time ago.”

He asserted confidently.

Yu Shi stepped in to mediate at the right time. “Alright, stop arguing. Go to sleep quickly. We have class tomorrow.”

That night, Streamer lay in bed, but this time, the scene didn't flash forward to the next day.

She was lying in bed, unable to sleep, when she suddenly heard a rustling sound.

Streamer lifted her bed curtain and saw that Chen Xiaohu had gotten up at some point. She was about to call out to him, but then she saw a pale hand reaching out from Chen Xiaohu’s bed behind him.

The hand cradled Chen Xiaohu’s chin, as if playing with a ball.

Streamer gasped in terror, practically paralyzed.

In the very next moment, a pale human face streaming with bloody tears suddenly appeared right in front of her.

Their noses were almost touching.

“Ah!!!!!!!!”