Chapter 15: I See You’re Trying to Trouble This Ouija Board!
In the classroom at the end of the corridor, the four people were still waiting for a response from the Ouija board; the ritual was ongoing.
“Ouija board, Ouija board, please come out… Ouija board, Ouija board, please come out…”
A girl, dressed in a patchwork baseball jersey and denim shorts, with a single ponytail and a lively appearance, was crouching in the corner of the classroom by the door, holding a camera and recording the whole Ouija game.
The circle of school chairs almost concealed her figure.
Her name was Du Sixian, a student at Huacheng Normal University.
As a creator of urban legend videos and a photography enthusiast, she had happily accepted an invitation from a fellow enthusiast in the urban legend discussion group yesterday afternoon to explore the hidden truths of Shihhekou Middle School and volunteered to be the photographer.
“Ouija board, Ouija board, please come out… Ouija board, Ouija board…”
The incantations of the Ouija game were being repeated over and over, but the small white porcelain plate set in the center of the classroom lay still, seemingly devoid of life, offering no response at all.
Du Sixian felt like an outsider, quietly observing her companions illuminated by candlelight, and began to feel a bit bored; gradually, her thoughts started to wander, unrestrained like a runaway horse.
In fact, when she first arrived at Shihhekou Middle School, walking along that shadowy mountain road and seeing the eerie campus, she had been quite scared.
But boredom can dull various emotions, including fear.
It seemed that the top ten urban legends about Shihhekou Middle School being closed for ominous reasons weren’t necessarily all true; at least, the rumor that the Ouija game had summoned a sinister presence leading to student harm might not be genuine.
When would I be able to create videos packed with content like those famous creators do?
However, I heard that many of the urban legend phenomena in their videos were largely acted out, and I couldn’t afford to hire actors!
Sigh, why is it so difficult to capture one or two genuine urban legends? Du Sixian thought, breathing a sigh in her heart.
The ritual continued quietly for a few more minutes, and Du Sixian’s arm holding the camera began to feel sore; she decided to place the camera on a tripod and leaned against the wall, lost in thought.
If this keeps dragging on, won’t it be a waste for me to come here and just watch them mumble incoherently? This video would be too dull.
Should I interrupt Pharaoh, Yun Meng, Liangyue, and the Brazilian Warrior God to see what else is around?
That’s right, she didn’t even know the names of her companions, only that they were probably university students.
Of course, those few people didn’t know Du Sixian’s name either.
She and they had met in the Huacheng University City urban legend culture exchange group. After meeting, they tacitly referred to each other using keywords from their usernames.
And Du Sixian’s nickname was Witch.
The wait felt long; in the dimly lit classroom, time seemed to slow down, and the boredom was wearing down Du Sixian’s patience as she even began counting her heartbeat.
“…Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine…”
Just as she was about to count to one hundred, she suddenly felt a strange sensation behind her, as if something in the darkness was approaching from downstairs—silent, formless, just a large unclear and disquieting shadow.
A chilling wind crept in through the gaps in the doors and windows, making a whimpering, low sound.
Feeling the cold wind brush over her back like icy tendrils, all of Du Sixian’s boredom vanished, and she straightened up, picking up her camera and softly calling out to her companions.
“It’s coming!”
Whether it was the sudden shout that startled them or if they too felt the unsettling cold winds, their bodies involuntarily shivered, and four pairs of eyes were fixated on the white paper covered in writing, expressions grave.
However…
The small white porcelain plate did not move as described in the urban legend about the Ouija game; it lay there quietly.
The cold wind that had been swirling in the corridor and outside stopped at some point, and the sense of unease vanished, as if driven away by something.
Du Sixian even felt a bit warm.
After a moment of silence, the four all turned to Du Sixian and began to complain.
“Witch, don’t scare us like that!” said a boy dressed in a winter Jersey of the Brazilian national team, giving off an athletic vibe; his nickname was Brazilian Warrior God.
“Yeah, if the Ouija board really appeared, the plate would move, and we’d definitely know before you! Just focus on recording the video.”
Listening to Yun Meng’s strange and sarcastic remark, Du Sixian frowned slightly, suppressing her temper and refraining from throwing the camera at her after all…
After all, it was quite expensive.
In fact, she had not liked this boyish girl dressed so flamboyantly from the moment they met; she wasn’t even a member of the group; if it weren’t for her boyfriend, the group’s older brother Pharaoh, they wouldn’t have brought her along at all.
“Alright, alright, the Witch is participating in her first scary game; it’s normal to be a little nervous. Let’s continue the ritual,” Pharaoh advised.
He wore black-rimmed glasses, stood tall, and appeared stable and handsome, fitting the image of the group’s older brother. Du Sixian even suspected he was some university counselor rather than a student.
With Pharaoh speaking, Du Sixian shrugged her lips noncommittally, and the others shifted their attention back to the white porcelain plate. Just then, the previously silent Liangyue suddenly let out an exclaim.
“Everyone, quick look! Outside, it seems there’s someone!”
Du Sixian froze for a moment, quickly raising her camera to look towards the window near the corridor, and then her pupils contracted sharply.
There really was someone outside! She clearly saw a small, stealthy figure with white hair, seemingly peering into the classroom, pressed against the wall, revealing half of its head.
Who was it? Was it the Ouija board? Or perhaps some other urban legend drawn here by the Ouija game?
For a moment, Du Sixian was filled with fear and confusion, her hands holding the camera trembling slightly, and in the next moment, a terrifying question formed in her mind.
How long has it been observing us outside? Has it been watching all along?
Du Sixian thought critically, a chill rising up her spine, her hands and feet feeling like they were electrified, sending waves of numbness through her.
She suddenly remembered the information she had gathered from various sources regarding games like pen spirit and Ouija board.
One explanation was that sometimes the entities summoned by these games weren’t the real pen spirit or Ouija board spirits, but rather something else entirely.
The more eerie and weird the place one played in, the more likely they attracted malicious entities; those who faced misfortune due to Ouija or pen spirit games had attracted those entities.
Noticing the presence outside, the Brazilian Warrior God began shouting as if trying to bolster his courage.
“d*mn! Who is messing around?! Come out, or I’ll smash your head open!”
“Don’t move! That might be the Ouija board!” Pharaoh shouted sternly at the Brazilian Warrior God, “You’ve seen the materials I gave you, right?”
“If it really is the Ouija board, you know what happens if we carelessly stop before sending it away, right?”
Upon hearing this, the Brazilian Warrior God showed a thoughtful expression, then as if he recalled some terrifying detail, his face turned pale, and he trembled, obediently closing his mouth and quieting down.
Materials? What materials? Du Sixian was startled; was it the recording of the experiences of those who encountered the Ouija board incident at Shihhekou Middle School in the group?
It seemed there were no particularly terrifying details in there, right? The Brazilian Warrior God had been a long-time group member, so how could he be frightened like that?
Too many questions surfaced in Du Sixian’s mind, making her uneasy.
They are hiding something from me!
Just as Du Sixian was lost in her thoughts, the usually reticent Liangyue suddenly spoke, “Whether it’s the Ouija board or not, we can find out by asking it a few questions.”
“Sure, sure! I’ll go first! I’ll go first!” The first-time participant Yun Meng seemed excited rather than scared as she “volunteered” to be the first to ask a question.
As she prepared to ask, the Brazilian Warrior God and Liangyue exchanged a glance at Pharaoh with a hint of displeasure flashing in their eyes, but neither spoke up.
“Ouija board, Ouija board, may I ask if my boyfriend and I will be together forever?”
After Yun Meng finished her question, Du Sixian glanced out the window; the figure outside was pacing within her line of sight, its form flickering in and out, as if entangled in something.
In the next moment, a sinister voice drifted in from outside.
“Yes, you will be together forever and have one son and one daughter.”
After receiving the Ouija board’s answer, Yun Meng looked excitedly at Pharaoh, “Darling, did you hear that? We will be together forever, and we’ll have two kids!”
“Uh-huh!” Pharaoh replied with a smile but seemed to hesitate.
“I have a question too!” Before anyone else could speak, the Brazilian Warrior God jumped in, “Ouija board, Ouija board, how will my career be in the future?”
“…”
After a moment of silence, the eerie voice echoed once more, “You will make a lot of money in the future, but the price is that your love life will be tumultuous, with many women quarreling over you.”
Seeing this, Du Sixian narrowed her eyes; something was strange, too strange! How could the Ouija board talk? Isn’t it supposed to communicate through a moving plate?
What’s outside is either a terrifying entity or someone playing tricks, but it definitely isn’t the Ouija board.
Given the vague conversation Pharaoh had with them before, I lean toward the latter.
Are they trying to prank me? Hmph! Let’s see how I expose you!
Du Sixian sneered in her heart, placed the camera on the tripod, took a few steps forward, and jumped over the desks that blocked her, arriving at the center of the classroom, placing her hand on the plate, under the curious gazes of her companions, and looked out the window.
“Ouija board, Ouija board, I ask you, why do the zeroes of the Riemann Zeta function have to either be negative even numbers or complex numbers with a real part of 1/2?”
The others, “???”
While they had seen questions about romance, career, and fortune, they had never encountered someone asking the Ouija board to try and prove the Riemann Hypothesis.
“Ouija board, is this too difficult? But it does make sense since it hasn’t been proven yet; let me ask you an easier one, okay?”
“Can you prove that a monotonic bounded sequence converges using the Cauchy convergence principle?”
The others, “…” Is this girl crazy?
In the midst of the silence, a faint sound floated in from outside…
“d*mn!”
…
In the corridor, Luxianbei, who was preparing to impersonate the Ouija board to extract spirit energy, felt frustrated and wished he could rush in immediately and pin Du Sixian to the ground for a beating.
People were asking good questions about romance and careers, and all I needed was to sweet-talk my way through; why did she have to ask a math question?
I just wanted to play cool and deal with my own hunger, why is it so difficult?
I see you’re trying to trouble this Ouija board! .JPG
