The Young Girl's Chronicles of Demon-Slaying

Chapter 50: A Visitor

Seeing that Song Jianqiu didn’t seem to know much about this event, Li Chuyan gave a brief introduction. Simply put, the reason for this event was not only to leave a good impression on all the classmates as they graduated, but also to spend the remaining funds from the class fees collected earlier, thereby avoiding the hassle of issuing refunds. However, participation in this event was still voluntary and required signing up with the class president. Naturally, everyone in the class was very enthusiastic about it. Out of the thirty-three students in the class, only seven who were from out of town were unable to attend due to personal reasons, and Song Jianqiu was the only one who hadn’t signed up. Even so, the seven students who weren’t going all provided their own reasons; only Song Jianqiu neither signed up nor gave any reason for not participating. Of course, a camping trip can’t be organized by students alone—it requires adult supervision—so the homeroom teacher and another teacher would be accompanying the group. As for the camping location, route, and various preparations, the class officers worked together to plan them, then submitted their proposals to the homeroom teacher for final approval and adjustments. Ultimately, the location chosen for this trip was a small hill northeast of Yashan City. On the day of the trip, they would simply board the prearranged bus, ride to the vicinity, and then get off to hike up the slope. Li Chuyan explained everything in great detail, but when Song Jianqiu heard that participation in the activity was “primarily voluntary,” she found it a bit odd. If it was voluntary, then why had Li Chuyan come to ask her—especially since she hadn’t signed up because she hadn’t known about it? With this thought in mind, she voiced her question. Upon hearing this, Li Chuyan smiled, her eyes narrowing slightly, and said, “Although you’ve only been in our class for a short time and seem rather reserved, from what I’ve observed while spending time with you, Jianqiu, you’re actually just cold on the outside but warm on the inside! Plus, during a few class meetings, I noticed you were spacing out. When it came time to sign up later, I wondered if you hadn’t heard the announcement—which is why you didn’t sign up—so I came over to ask you!” So that’s how it is! Song Jianqiu nodded; she hadn’t realized Li Chuyan was paying so much attention to her. “All right! I’ve already told you—are you coming or not? Camping is really fun!” Li Chuyan said finally, in a persuasive tone. There really wasn’t much to think about. Although she didn’t think hanging out with a bunch of minors would be much fun, since this was the class’s last activity, there was no harm in joining. More importantly, she’d actually never been camping before—this was a rare opportunity, so she might as well give it a try. “Okay! I’m in!” Song Jianqiu agreed. “Really? That’s great!” Li Chuyan looked delighted and said, “Then let me go over the activity plan with you in detail.” “Sure!” Song Jianqiu nodded, then glanced around and noticed that almost everyone else had left. Only she and Li Chuyan were still standing there, so she said, “Let’s walk and talk!” “Sure!” Li Chuyan nodded and, quite naturally, took Song Jianqiu’s hand. This gesture took Song Jianqiu slightly by surprise, but she quickly shrugged and let her lead the way. It’s perfectly natural for girls to hold hands. Even when they go to the restroom, they call out to their friends to come along. To outsiders, this is simply seen as friendship. If you often see one girl going to the restroom with another, you’d naturally assume they’re good friends—best friends, even. If a guy did that, wouldn’t people call it gross? Part of their way home overlapped, so along the way, Li Chuyan told Song Jianqiu all about their camping plans. Song Jianqiu listened quietly, occasionally murmuring “mm-hmm” and nodding to show she was paying attention. When they finally reached the point where their paths diverged, the two waved goodbye to each other. Song Jianqiu stood where she was, watching Li Chuyan cross the crosswalk. Li Chuyan stood on the other side of the street and waved at her. Only after Li Chuyan turned the corner and disappeared from view—until even her silhouette was gone—did Song Jianqiu take her eyes off her and turn to head home. When she reached her front door, she unlocked it with her key, stepped into the front yard, and immediately spotted the spirit ghost she’d named Xiao Hua, sitting on the dirt beneath the osmanthus tree. Although the term “spirit ghost” had an extra character added to it, it was still, by and large, a ghostly entity. Naturally, it was untouched by dust, and ordinary people couldn’t see it—only someone like Song Jianqiu could. Seeing Song Jianqiu return, Xiao Hua smiled happily, stood up, and scampered over on its little legs. It stopped right in front of her, holding out its arms for a hug. This was a ghost infant that had transformed into a spirit ghost. No matter how many years it had taken to mature into a ghost, it still possessed very little independent consciousness even after becoming one. Only after transforming into a spirit ghost did it develop a sense of self, no longer influenced by resentment—which would have made it violent and ferocious—but instead behaving just like an ordinary child. As a result, although Xiao Hua looked to be three or four years old—able to speak, run, and jump—her cognitive development was no different from that of a newborn baby. She knew very little, and her thoughts were innocent and pure. However, this is only temporary. Spirit ghosts are, by their very nature, unique; they do not need to wait for their brains to gradually develop as they grow older, as ordinary children do, in order to gradually acquire knowledge. Xiao Hua had only recently attained spirit form; in time, she would likely outgrow this state of innocence. At this moment, Song Jianqiu didn’t really understand any of this yet; she simply thought that since Xiao Hua was small and looked to be only three or four years old, she naturally treated her as a child. When she saw Xiao Hua reach out for a hug, she glanced around the room. Although someone inside was watching TV, no one seemed to be paying attention to what was happening outside the courtyard, so she quickly bent down and picked Xiao Hua up. “Giggle, giggle, giggle!” Xiao Hua giggled happily in Song Jianqiu’s arms. After playing with her for a while, she set Xiao Hua down and continued toward the living room door. Seeing this, Xiao Hua followed right behind her. When Song Jianqiu wasn’t home, Xiao Hua usually stayed under the osmanthus tree to play; only when she returned would it follow her inside to play. In fact, in Song Jianqiu’s view, spirit ghosts felt somewhat like earthbound spirits, generally confined to a single spot; Xiao Hua might be a bit better off, since it wasn’t a true earthbound spirit, but she figured it must still have a limited range of movement. Later tests confirmed this: Xiao Hua’s range of movement wasn’t very large; it couldn’t even go beyond the front gate and could only wander around the small courtyards in front of and behind the villa. Song Jianqiu did feel a bit sorry for it, but she couldn’t think of a way to solve the problem, so she decided to set it aside for the time being. She simply spent more time playing with Xiao Hua on a daily basis to keep it from feeling lonely. After entering the house, Song Jianqiu glanced around the living room and noticed someone sitting behind the sofa, with only half a head peeking out from the backrest. Seeing the hairstyle of that half-head, she knew immediately that this wasn’t anyone she recognized. It was only a little past ten; Song Wencheng couldn’t possibly have gotten off work at this hour. Lin Yuqin had long hair—it couldn’t be this short, choppy cut. As for Wang Yiting, setting aside whether he’d dare show up, even if he did, his hairstyle wouldn’t look like this. Could there be a guest at home? she wondered to herself. She had originally planned to call out “I’m home” as she usually did, but she swallowed those words before they left her lips. (End of Chapter)