Chapter Seventeen: Spirit Plate, Spirit Plate, can you k*ll them?
Luxianbei and Du Sixian took three minutes to seriously discuss the compensation issue, finally settling on an amount of 1470 yuan.
“Well, this is enough, I’ll give you a contact number later. You can send me 1470, and I’ll deliver the items to you,” Du Sixian said with a smile.
“Uh…” Luxianbei was stunned, why did things turn out this way?
I merely mentioned casually that it would be okay to convert the compensation into equipment for recording videos, how did she end up promoting it to me? I was even roped into it.
How come she is so bold? Does she not confirm if I am an urban legend? No wonder she came to Shihhekou Middle School with those guys.
Luxianbei scratched the back of his head expressionlessly, “Wait a minute, let me sort this out… sort it out…”
“You don’t have to think too hard, it’s very cost-effective!”
Du Sixian poked her chin with a finger, speaking earnestly, while a mischievous light flickered in her large, spirited eyes.
“If you buy it elsewhere at the same price, you can only get one set of equipment, but here, not only can you buy one set of equipment, but you can also receive calibration from me, a professional!”
“Besides, I see that our content is similar, so we can collaborate. You stream live, I record videos, isn’t that reasonable?”
Luxianbei, “……” d*mn it, she’s actually making me a little tempted!
This girl is so good at talking; she must have escaped from a pyramid scheme, right?
“I think it’s better not to. I’m good on my own.”
“Think about it, doing urban legend live streaming or videos alone is dangerous. With me around, I can protect you.”
As Du Sixian said this, she waved her fist lightly, “Don’t underestimate me; I’ve learned Sanda and Muay Thai since I was young! Come on, be my partner!”
Become your partner and then get you killed? Luxianbei thought to himself, then said, “Let’s talk about this later? We should first…”
While speaking, Luxianbei’s gaze drifted towards the oil painting in the corner. Although the face of the girl in the painting was completely obscured by chaotic red lines, she felt strange glances coming from that direction.
Du Sixian followed Luxianbei’s gaze, turned to look at the painting behind her, her eyes brightened, and she interrupted, “You’re looking at that painting, right? I think you’re right.”
Luxianbei, “……” What the hell!
What I meant was that thing seems abnormal; can you please leave this classroom?
Is it really okay to randomly move such a bizarre object?
Just as Luxianbei complained inwardly, Du Sixian had already taken action, holding a camera in one hand and a steel pipe in the other, carefully approaching the oil painting in the corner.
“Dear viewers, after a boring wait and a small interlude, I have finally discovered the first interesting thing at Shihhekou Middle School, hehe!”
“This is an oil painting with a bizarre image. The girl depicted seems to have been smeared with red paint, and her appearance can no longer be seen.”
While explaining, Du Sixian got closer and stopped just a meter away from the oil painting, using the steel pipe in her hand to lift the white cloth that covered it. At that moment, she jumped back a large step.
Seeing this, Luxianbei slightly furrowed his brows. Does she even know to maintain a certain distance? I thought she wasn’t afraid of dying at all!
But at such a close distance, if something suddenly jumps out from beneath the white cloth, there’s no way she could escape, right?
To put it bluntly, she does have some reckless traits.
Luxianbei thought, carrying the Ming King statue and getting a bit closer, stopping diagonally behind Du Sixian, on guard against the movements around them.
Du Sixian shone the flashlight beam on the oil painting, getting a little closer, and Luxianbei stared at the canvas with a slightly furrowed brow.
From a brief glance earlier, she thought the painting depicted a girl lying on the ground, but now, seeing it more clearly, she realized it was not the case.
The girl in the painting appeared to be lying in a sprawled position, but upon closer observation, she noticed that her neck, hands, and feet were twisted at an eerie angle—no, perhaps it would be more accurate to say they were broken.
Coupled with those chaotic, bl**d-like lines, it made one feel as if it was a painting of a girl bathing in bl**d after falling from a height.
“There’s a name at the top,” Du Sixian directed the flashlight to the lower right corner of the oil painting, “Zhao Ke? Is he the author of this painting?”
As soon as Du Sixian spoke the name “Zhao Ke,” Luxianbei felt as if she were experiencing an illusion; those two words she uttered spread far and wide, reaching deep into the darkness of the campus.
Immediately, her eyes seemed to be warming up as if warning her of something, and an ominous feeling spread in her heart.
Something was awakening, a huge, filthy shadow filled with malice silently enveloped the entire campus.
“Bang, bang—!”
The oil painting on the easel suddenly came alive, wobbling about, and the frame collided with the easel, producing faint sounds.
On the canvas, the traces of red paint seemed to become even more vivid.
Seeing this bizarre scene, Du Sixian seemed to sense something, retreating step by step. As soon as she took a few steps back, she heard a soft sound of “bang!” as the oil painting directly bounced from the easel.
The bouncing oil painting flew toward Du Sixian, and the strange girl in the painting appeared larger in her line of sight. In a daze, she seemed to see a figure in a white dress, arms outstretched, leaping toward her.
In the blink of an eye, Luxianbei’s gaze sharpened. Grabbing the Ming King statue, she darted forward, swinging her arms vigorously; the oil painting collided with the bronze statue in midair, emitting a faint flash of golden light before the oil painting flew back and fell silently to the ground.
It felt like an illusion—at the moment the oil painting hit the ground, a chilling scream echoed in her ears.
Holding the Ming King statue, Luxianbei moved a bit closer to the oil painting, and after confirming it showed no further signs of movement, she glanced over at Du Sixian.
The camera had long since slipped from Du Sixian’s hands, tumbling against her chest. She held the steel pipe with both hands, dazed and astonished for a moment before turning to look at Luxianbei behind her.
“That, just now… Gurgle—!”
She swallowed hard, her gaze flicking between Luxianbei and the Ming King statue in her hands. Then, as if confirming something, her eyes narrowed.
“I guess you’re not here to stream, are you? You’re here to deal with the urban legends. There really are urban legends in this school!”
“Uh…” Luxianbei frowned, pondering for a brief moment before responding seriously, “I did intend to do some streaming, but I am also here to deal with urban legends. I’m actually from the Great Force Ming Wang Sect; this is our sect’s special magical tool.”
As she spoke, she patted the Ming King statue, producing a light “DUANG! DUANG!” sound.
Most of this was true and not a lie. Luxianbei thought that if needed, she could even be regarded as the founding ancestor of the Great Force Ming Wang Sect.
Reflecting on that, she withdrew her gaze from Du Sixian and refocused on the oil painting, remaining alert.
Du Sixian scrutinized Luxianbei and the Ming King statue, and after a lengthy silence, the confusion in her eyes gradually faded.
“I understand now!”
Luxianbei, “……” What do you understand? You’re so dramatic.
“You noticed that some of my companions have issues, and that’s why you deliberately led me away, right?”
“Uh…” Luxianbei’s lips parted slightly, “There is some truth to that…”
But mainly because you charged at me with the steel pipe, I instinctively ran away.
In fact, Luxianbei had sensed something was off about that group when Du Sixian started asking questions.
Except for Du Sixian, the other four were playing the Spirit Plate game. The spirit energy she got was indeed higher than what she had received from the driver uncle, but definitely not four times more.
She had thought it was individual differences or maybe some other reason causing this phenomenon.
But when Du Sixian began her questioning, and she clearly felt an increase in spirit energy, she wondered whether there was something wrong with those four people.
Luxianbei couldn’t be sure which one or two of them had issues, but at least she could confirm that Du Sixian should be human.
Luxianbei felt that scaring her little friends at home was not a solution for her thirst for survival, so she speculated that this way of gaining spirit energy should only be effective against humans.
Either that, or those guys at home are just too weak!
However, just as she was tangled up in how to warn Du Sixian, Du Sixian rushed out with her steel pipe, and then…
So, I’ve said all along, it’s not because I was cowardly that I ran away!
That’s right, I was actually saving her indirectly.
Luxianbei thought, retrieving her thoughts and looking at the oil painting on the ground, only to realize that Du Sixian had already picked up the flashlight that had fallen to the ground and was shining it on the painting.
The oil painting, having been knocked over, flipped onto its other side.
On the back of the oil painting, someone had written various insulting words in red paint, and those words targeted Zhao Ke directly.
Staring at those dark red words, her eyes burned as she then saw indistinct images flickering before her, while a series of malevolent shouts echoed in her ears.
“Zhao Ke! You little bug! Why don’t you go d*e?”
“What is this thing you drew? A corpse? Are you a freak? Say you’re a freak, or else…”
“Zhao Ke, you don’t really think you have artistic talent, do you? That’s just laughable! The art teacher is just comforting you, don’t you know?”
“Seeing your cowardly appearance annoys me. Do you believe I’ll break all those fingers you use to draw?”
…
Malicious insults continuously filled her ears, making Luxianbei’s head throb with pain.
Suddenly, all the insults disappeared, replaced by a distinctly repressed sobbing.
A male student’s ghostly figure suddenly appeared in the corner of the Art Supplies Classroom, clutching the oil painting tightly as if guarding something important.
He wore black-rimmed glasses, with bangs nearly covering his eyes, looking very ordinary—just the kind of guy whose appearance fades from memory after graduation.
Is he Zhao Ke? The boy who was bullied? How pitiful, Luxianbei thought.
Every class has that one student who gets bullied.
They are often silent, or their talents in certain areas invite jealousy, or they have some physical flaws, or sometimes for no identifiable reason at all. In any case, they become the punching bags for everyone.
They are isolated, ostracized, bullied, receiving no care from friends or classmates, no understanding from parents or teachers, and not even a moment’s respite.
They stand on the edge of a despairing cliff, with the abyss looming before and behind them…
Luxianbei’s eyes suddenly burned hotter; the scene before her rushed by like the view from a speeding car, fleeting images flashing before her as if in film edits.
She saw a pitiful student repeatedly painting over words that classmates wrote on the back of his artwork with white paint, but everything he did was in vain.
The surrounding people were even more frenzied and malicious, writing even more things in the places he painted over.
Eventually, this behavior escalated; those people were no longer satisfied just watching him suffer; they wanted to drive him to despair, and ultimately, they completely destroyed his painting.
All images vanished when the oil painting was filled with chaotic red lines, leaving Luxianbei enveloped in a hopeless darkness.
Then…
A flicker of dim candlelight dispersed the darkness, one lamp, two lamps… a total of four white candles stood at each corner of the small space, and a white porcelain dish rested in the center of the room.
Zhao Ke squatted beside the white porcelain dish, pressing his hands on it, his fingers covered in plaster, wrapped in bandages.
He was playing a Spirit Plate game.
However, the Spirit Plate game requires at least three people to play, and Zhao Ke didn’t have that many friends; in fact, no one in the whole school was willing to talk to him.
So…
He made some friends for himself.
The canvas was cut into human shapes, and he used his excellent painting skills to draw faces on them, one, two, three—all the likenesses of those people, with candlelight illuminating their blank, dull eyes.
“Spirit Plate, Spirit Plate, please come out… Spirit Plate, Spirit Plate, please come out…”
As Zhao Ke continuously repeated the incantation, the white porcelain dish suddenly turned, making a light “sasa!” sound.
Zhao Ke stared at the white porcelain dish, his gaze gradually becoming frenzied.
He said, “Spirit Plate, Spirit Plate, can you help me k*ll them?”
In a moment of dead silence, the necks of the four paper figures appeared to be sliced by something, a fine line forming, before their heads slowly slid off, silently falling to the ground.
In the next instant, a chilling wind blew, extinguishing all the candles, and Zhao Ke was plunged into darkness.
In the darkness, a faintly cold response could be discerned.
“Yes…”
