On the way to school, Lu Yibei gnawed on an egg-filled biscuit bought at the entrance of the community while scrolling through the records of the chat group.
[00:05 SEPIA: Since somebody asked, let me tell you in detail about the different feelings brought to me by various female urban legends… let me light up a cigarette real quick.]
[00:07 SEPIA: Let’s start with zombie girls, and I do not recommend them! Their bodies are too cold and full of yin; although it is a plus in the summertime, their body odour is too strong for most to handle, and they are very stiff, so they cannot recreate many postures with you.
[00:10 SEPIA: I do recommend vampires in that regard, though, but be sure to get your rabies shot after she bites you!]
…
No matter the situation, men will always start to think with their juniors.
If anything, this person could write a whole guide on how to pick up urban legend girls!
He continued to scroll down.
[00:35 SEPIA: But the best of all are witches…]
‘What the…’
He couldn’t help but feel offended, but he didn’t know why.
He immersed himself in the chat records, and after walking for about fifteen minutes, he came to the door of his class.
Looking up to confirm his classroom, he nodded to himself and walked straight to a seat in a lonely corner.
Although he had already made an appointment with the counsellor yesterday to discuss his speech, he still planned to finish this class before going to the counsellor’s office.
There weren’t many students in the classroom; the ones who were present were in their respective cliques, talking loudly amongst themselves without a care in the world.
“That game is so good, right? The plot of the game is excellent, and the graphics were made in Unreal Engine too…!”
“Nice! Do you think it’s going to be competitive?”
“Oh, I don’t care about all that. The only thing I’m competitive about is the girls in-game.”
Yibei immediately tuned them out, turning his attention to the group of girls on the other side of the classroom.
He didn’t quite understand what they were talking about—who is Jack Altman? What is the difference between nude red and red nude lipsticks? It just didn’t click with him.
The remaining dregs of Daydream wanted to explain it to him, but he tuned her explanation out, instead wondering about the best way to get rid of their memories as soon as possible.
Clack, clack, clack!
Just as Yibei was about to fall asleep, a tall, smartly dressed girl hurried in and joined the girls’ discussion, and Yibei found himself interested in their discussion.
“Yun, why are you back on campus? Aren’t you supposed to be attending your relative’s funeral?”
“Don’t talk about it!” the girl shushed. “If I stayed at that place for a second longer, you might not be talking with me right now!”
“It’s just a funeral, though? What’s so scary about it?”
“Don’t tell anybody else, but I think the funeral was haunted.”
Haunted? He thought, and he noticed that their discussion had gotten considerably softer, so he stood up and sat closer to them.
“Isn’t it good that they found your grandfather’s body? But your missing cousin…”
“That’s what I’m saying! My cousin disappeared with my grandfather’s body, but my grandfather’s body appeared out of nowhere! What’s worse is that my older cousin refuses to let anybody see his body, and he didn’t even bid him farewell like he wanted him six feet under as soon as possible…”
‘Interesting. I’m glad I plan to be cremated when I die.’
Burials indirectly foster urban legends whenever the deceased are mentioned. Hearing what Yun had said, the girl sitting opposite her frowned, “He didn’t let you see the body? Then, how do you know that the funeral was haunted?”
“I’m telling the truth! My older cousin hired nine strong men to carry my grandfather’s coffin, but guess what? They couldn’t even lift his coffin up.”
Her face turned considerably paler, and she stopped talking.
“Come on, continue!”
“They dragged his coffin instead, but the rope tying the coffin up snapped, and the lid burst open, breaking two of the men’s legs, and inside the coffin…”
“It’s empty?”
“No. There was something inside—not my missing cousin, but my second cousin, and he was wearing my grandfather’s clothes.”
“You’re not making this up, r-right?”
“I-I don’t even know anymore—the rope was thick and sturdy too, so there was no reason for it to snap open, so I think that…” she gulped. “Everyone was terrified, and their faces were ashen. Everybody just started to come up with excuses to go back home, but that wasn’t the weirdest thing that happened.”
“Don’t tell us! Please!” A girl covered her ears and said. “Bla-bla-bla…”
What the—continue the story! I’m getting invested! Yibei thought.
“Let her finish.” Another girl spoke up, and Yibei cheered inwardly.
“I was driving back home when my other cousin called me,” she gulped. “He told me that, when they left, they saw the older cousin sitting alone in the courtyard, with our second cousin’s corpse lying next to him. There were 18 tables filled with food, and he just drank alone, and he heard him talking.”
“What did he say?”
Yun started to cry and swallowed. “He said, Dad, you already killed my brother. What else do you want from me? Can’t you just let me go?”
She continued to cry silently: “He told me there wasn’t the wind that day, but he could see my grandfather’s favourite white towel fluttering violently in the wind as if it were…”
“He ran away, but he turned around, and he saw a scarlet lantern hovering over the coffin,” Yun continued. “I-I don’t remember there being one, and it’s a funeral… Nobody hangs up red lanterns during a funeral.”
A scene started to form in Yibei’s mind: an old-fashioned house, probably situated in a village; an uneaten banquet; cloth fluttering without wind; scarlet lanterns…
He couldn’t blame any of her relatives for the horrors they went through. If anything, he told himself that the moment something went wrong, he would be hightailing it out as fast as possible!
On the way to school, Lu Yibei gnawed on an egg-filled biscuit bought at the entrance of the community while scrolling through the records of the chat group.
[00:05 SEPIA: Since somebody asked, let me tell you in detail about the different feelings brought to me by various female urban legends… let me light up a cigarette real quick.]
[00:07 SEPIA: Let’s start with zombie girls, and I do not recommend them! Their bodies are too cold and full of yin; although it is a plus in the summertime, their body odour is too strong for most to handle, and they are very stiff, so they cannot recreate many postures with you.
[00:10 SEPIA: I do recommend vampires in that regard, though, but be sure to get your rabies shot after she bites you!]
…
No matter the situation, men will always start to think with their juniors.
If anything, this person could write a whole guide on how to pick up urban legend girls!
He continued to scroll down.
[00:35 SEPIA: But the best of all are witches…]
‘What the…’
He couldn’t help but feel offended, but he didn’t know why.
He immersed himself in the chat records, and after walking for about fifteen minutes, he came to the door of his class.
Looking up to confirm his classroom, he nodded to himself and walked straight to a seat in a lonely corner.
Although he had already made an appointment with the counsellor yesterday to discuss his speech, he still planned to finish this class before going to the counsellor’s office.
There weren’t many students in the classroom; the ones who were present were in their respective cliques, talking loudly amongst themselves without a care in the world.
“That game is so good, right? The plot of the game is excellent, and the graphics were made in Unreal Engine too…!”
“Nice! Do you think it’s going to be competitive?”
“Oh, I don’t care about all that. The only thing I’m competitive about is the girls in-game.”
Yibei immediately tuned them out, turning his attention to the group of girls on the other side of the classroom.
He didn’t quite understand what they were talking about—who is Jack Altman? What is the difference between nude red and red nude lipsticks? It just didn’t click with him.
The remaining dregs of Daydream wanted to explain it to him, but he tuned her explanation out, instead wondering about the best way to get rid of their memories as soon as possible.
Clack, clack, clack!
Just as Yibei was about to fall asleep, a tall, smartly dressed girl hurried in and joined the girls’ discussion, and Yibei found himself interested in their discussion.
“Yun, why are you back on campus? Aren’t you supposed to be attending your relative’s funeral?”
“Don’t talk about it!” the girl shushed. “If I stayed at that place for a second longer, you might not be talking with me right now!”
“It’s just a funeral, though? What’s so scary about it?”
“Don’t tell anybody else, but I think the funeral was haunted.”
Haunted? He thought, and he noticed that their discussion had gotten considerably softer, so he stood up and sat closer to them.
“Isn’t it good that they found your grandfather’s body? But your missing cousin…”
“That’s what I’m saying! My cousin disappeared with my grandfather’s body, but my grandfather’s body appeared out of nowhere! What’s worse is that my older cousin refuses to let anybody see his body, and he didn’t even bid him farewell like he wanted him six feet under as soon as possible…”
‘Interesting. I’m glad I plan to be cremated when I die.’
Burials indirectly foster urban legends whenever the deceased are mentioned. Hearing what Yun had said, the girl sitting opposite her frowned, “He didn’t let you see the body? Then, how do you know that the funeral was haunted?”
“I’m telling the truth! My older cousin hired nine strong men to carry my grandfather’s coffin, but guess what? They couldn’t even lift his coffin up.”
Her face turned considerably paler, and she stopped talking.
“Come on, continue!”
“They dragged his coffin instead, but the rope tying the coffin up snapped, and the lid burst open, breaking two of the men’s legs, and inside the coffin…”
“It’s empty?”
“No. There was something inside—not my missing cousin, but my second cousin, and he was wearing my grandfather’s clothes.”
“You’re not making this up, r-right?”
“I-I don’t even know anymore—the rope was thick and sturdy too, so there was no reason for it to snap open, so I think that…” she gulped. “Everyone was terrified, and their faces were ashen. Everybody just started to come up with excuses to go back home, but that wasn’t the weirdest thing that happened.”
“Don’t tell us! Please!” A girl covered her ears and said. “Bla-bla-bla…”
What the—continue the story! I’m getting invested! Yibei thought.
“Let her finish.” Another girl spoke up, and Yibei cheered inwardly.
“I was driving back home when my other cousin called me,” she gulped. “He told me that, when they left, they saw the older cousin sitting alone in the courtyard, with our second cousin’s corpse lying next to him. There were 18 tables filled with food, and he just drank alone, and he heard him talking.”
“What did he say?”
Yun started to cry and swallowed. “He said, Dad, you already killed my brother. What else do you want from me? Can’t you just let me go?”
She continued to cry silently: “He told me there wasn’t the wind that day, but he could see my grandfather’s favourite white towel fluttering violently in the wind as if it were…”
“He ran away, but he turned around, and he saw a scarlet lantern hovering over the coffin,” Yun continued. “I-I don’t remember there being one, and it’s a funeral… Nobody hangs up red lanterns during a funeral.”
A scene started to form in Yibei’s mind: an old-fashioned house, probably situated in a village; an uneaten banquet; cloth fluttering without wind; scarlet lanterns…
He couldn’t blame any of her relatives for the horrors they went through. If anything, he told himself that the moment something went wrong, he would be hightailing it out as fast as possible!
