Chapter 158: Eraser Spirit

This time, they didn’t fall for Niu Xuan’s prank.

Zhou Jing hit him hard on the back. “Will you stop already?”

Still fuming, she kicked him in the calf. “That’s for lying to us!”

“Haha, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Spare me, Sister Zhou.” Niu Xuan walked into the classroom laughing.

It was almost empty with most of the tables and chairs haphazardly pushed to the back. Only four tables were placed in the center to form a square, surrounded by a few chairs. The floor was covered in empty drink bottles and cigarette butts.

The classroom had clearly been a tourist attraction of sorts. Sadly, there was no cleaning staff to keep it tidy.

Gao Yang looked around. The blackboard, walls, and windows were all covered in doodles and words.

“XXX I’ll love you for ten thousand years!”

“XXX I wish you a lifetime of erectile dysfunction!”

“Run, run, run!”

“I’m XXX’s father!”

“Here I have marked my turf with my piss!”

...

There were all kinds of comments. Gao Yang didn’t waste any more time checking them.

They sat around the tables in the center of the classroom. The chilling night wind swept through the broken windows, shaking the ceiling fans and making them creak.

“It’s just a normal classroom,” Niu Xuan scoffed. “Where’s the ghost?”

“It’s a myth.” Zhou Jing looked around with her flashlight. “But I heard that it only showed up if you sought it out.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Fancy a game?”

“Are you suggesting...pen spirit[1]?” Cucumber gulped. “Or Ouija board?”

Gao Yang was taken aback.

That’s bold of her. Although I’m not particularly superstitious, the game still creeps me out.

“No, we’re playing eraser spirit!”

“What’s that?” Niu Xuan was totally lost, and everyone else reacted the same way.

Zhou Jing stood up and walked up to the podium, finding a chalkboard eraser and waving it at them. “We’ll use this. What do you say?”

“Why?” Gao Yang asked out of pure curiosity.

“Don’t you think the game will only work better if we use something that’s originally in this classroom?”

“You really are bold, Sister Zhou!” Niu Xuan couldn’t help but admire her.

“Are you out of your mind, Zhou Jing?!” Huan Huan lost her nerves. “What if there really is something here?”

“Well, we’ve gotten this far already, might as well make it worthwhile with something exciting!” Zhou Jing chuckled. “Hey, you boys aren’t backing out, are you? We girls need your protection.”

“Leave it to us!” Niu Xuan perked up. “I’ve got a lot of

yang

energy and I’ve never been afraid of spirits.”

He gave Cucumber and Fat Hu a pointed look. Although the two of them weren’t feeling that confident, they put on a front for the pretty girls and nodded vehemently.

Zhou Jing took out a stack of post-it notes and a ballpen from her purse before making notes on the table.

“Will one of you give me some light?”

Gao Yang shone his flashlight on the table.

Soon, Zhou Jing had made about a dozen notes and stuck them on the table in a circle, each written with a simple phrase.

‘Yes.’

‘No.’

‘Don’t know.’

‘Angry.’

‘Happy.’

‘Sad.’

‘Warning.’

‘Friendly.’

‘Hostile.’

...

“Come on, have a seat.”

Zhou Jing was the first to sit down. She put the chalkboard eraser in the center of the table and extended her hands to the sides.

After some hesitation, Huan Huan and Can each took a side and grabbed her hands.

Gao Yang sat down by Can and took her hand. The rest followed suit, and they made a circle with their hands linked.

“Eraser Spirit, Eraser Spirit! We devote to you our genuine awe and fear, we humbly request you for your help! Should you hear our summon, please descend upon our world!”

Zhou Jing turned to the others after that. “Come on, chant with me.”

Everyone took a deep breath and mustered the courage to chant in unison, “Eraser Spirit, Eraser Spirit! We devote to you our genuine awe and fear, we humbly request you for your help! Should you hear our summon, please descend upon our world!”

Then Zhou Jing released a hand to grab the chalkboard eraser and rotate it.

Swoosh!

The eraser started rotating quickly. All eyes were on it as it spinned.

After a little more than ten seconds, the side of the chalkboard eraser that was marked as the pointer ended up stopping at the note that said ‘Friendly’.

“Look! The spirit is with us!”

Zhou Jing was visibly excited.

Gao Yang suppressed a snort.

You’ll be able to talk your way around it even if it points to a different note, won’t you?

“Eraser Spirit, Eraser Spirit, we would like to ask you a few questions. Would you answer us?” Zhou Jing continued and rotated the chalkboard eraser again.

With another swoosh, the eraser slowly came to a stop, pointing to ‘Yes’.

“Oh!” Zhou Jing called out happily. “Thank you, Eraser Spirit!”

Gao Yang smiled wordlessly.

The others exchanged a quiet smile as well. They all thought that Zhou Jing was putting on quite the show, and they might as well play along for her sake.

“Eraser Spirit, Eraser Spirit, is there something impure in this classroom?”

She rotated the eraser.

Swoosh. It stopped at ‘Yes’.

“That, that must be a coincidence, right?” The timid Huan Huan was the first to get scared. She hugged her arms around herself tightly.

Gao Yang was surprised too.

Isn’t that a little too coincidental? Don’t tell me you have Lucky too.

The faces around the table began to change in subtle ways.

Cucumber and Fat Hu shared a look, breathing a little heavily while they did their best to look relaxed.

“Is it really that accurate?” Niu Xuan was still doubtful. He grabbed the eraser from Zhou Jing. “Let me try.”

“Eraser Spirit, Eraser Spirit, did someone die in the classroom eighteen years ago?”

He rotated the eraser.

It spinned for a long time until it slowly stopped at ‘Yes’.

“Ahhhh!” Huan Huan screamed and threw her arms around Zhou Jing. “Let’s stop! Let’s not keep going!”

They all looked a little tense. Even Niu Xuan was stunned speechless.

Gao Yang had to wonder if something supernatural was at play.

He accessed his system. His Luck points were accumulating at a regular speed. At least they weren’t in danger.

Zhou Jing said seriously, “No, that won’t work. It’s easier to summon a spirit than to send it away. Now that we’ve summoned Eraser Spirit, we have to give it a proper send off if we want to stop here.”

“Then, then let’s do that,” Huan Huan begged.

“I’ll try.” It seemed that Zhou Jing hadn’t expected this to happen, either.

Taking a deep breath, she chanted, “Eraser Spirit, Eraser Spirit, thank you for answering our call. We don’t have any more questions. Please take your leave as you wish.”

She rotated the eraser.

It stopped at ‘Angry’.

“Eraser, Eraser Spirit is angry? Why?” Huan Huan was close to tears. “We didn’t do anything bad to it.”

“Cap, Captain...” Can was terrified as well, and she held tight onto Gao Yang’s shoulders. “Protect me. I, I don’t wanna die yet!”

“Hey, Sister Zhou. It’s all your doing, isn’t it?” Niu Xuan said in a trembling voice, his face dark. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

Cucumber and Fat Hu both paled and trembled. It was all they could do not to bolt then and there.

“I, I didn’t expect this either...” Zhou Jing also seemed scared now. She looked up at the ceiling. “Eraser Spirit, we offer our apology... We shouldn’t have summoned you without thinking it through. Please find it in your merciful heart to forgive us! We will go immediately, and we will never do this again...”

She reached out for the eraser with a trembling hand.

“I’ll do it.”

Gao Yang grabbed the eraser and took a deep breath.

At least I have Lucky. Let it be useful this time.

He rotated it carefully.

Everyone stared at the eraser as it spinned, not daring to even breathe. It had taken less than ten seconds for the eraser to stop spinning, yet the seconds dragged torturously.

It slowly came to a stop.

‘Hostile’.

1.

Bixian

is basically ouija board but with a pen moving around a sheet of paper. It’s common in East Asian countries like Japan and China. ?