Fake Slackers

Chapter 23: Complete Guide to Exorcism

After evening self-study, He Zhao stuck to Xie Yu as they returned to the dorm.

He even tried to get Wan Da on his left side, so that Xie Yu and Wan Da would be on either side of him, but Wan Da dodged his attempts, very self-aware: "This-this-this isn't good, you two can be affectionate together."

Xie Yu was a little annoyed: "With which of your eyes are you seeing affection?"

Wan Da internally said: With both eyes, actually.

He looked at He Zhao who was clinging to Xie Yu with his whole body and didn't say anything.

"Do you want to come to my room and play games?"

"Nope."

"There's a game tonight. Interested?"

"Nope."

They had arrived at their doors. Xie Yu opened his door with his key, but He Zhao didn't move, refusing to give up or get out of the way: "The monthly exams are soon. Maybe we could review together?"

Xie Yu said nothing and simply shut his door.

"......"

Xie Yu finished chatting with Zhou Dalei and glanced at the time: 1 a.m.

The knocking always came between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. It happened on a different floor every night, but always between the first and third floors. Perhaps "it" was also wary of trouble and didn't want to venture further upwards, so the fourth floor and above were safe, for now.

If someone really was pretending to be a ghost, this person was also quite determined, forgoing their sleep in the middle of the night.

Xie Yu picked up an English mock exam paper. He opened the door and went out. The knocking had stopped and there was nothing at all in the corridor.

The motion-sensor light didn't work too well. The weak light flickered on and off.

Xie Yu knocked on the door of the room opposite his and heard something crash into the other side of the door. Then He Zhao's voice came, sounding like he was on the verge of a breakdown: "Are you still not done?! I dare you to knock again!"

"......"

Xie Yu knocked twice more.

The interior of the room went quiet.

He Zhao wrapped himself in his blankets, phone in hand, cursing internally ten thousand times, "fuck."

He had offhandedly baited the ghost out loud, and this thing had actually understood him.

It even played along for his benefit.

Xie Yu waited a long time. Once he eliminated the possibility that He Zhao was looking for a weapon to fling open the door, rush out, and run headlong into a fight, he said conciliatorily, "Open the door, it's me, your grandpa."

Half a minute later, the door opened.

He Zhao wore a calm, unbothered expression as he opened the door. Full marks for acting. "Why are you here?"

Xie Yu wondered if He Zhao had intentionally tousled his hair. Aside from his hair, his wide-open collar was also suspicious. His eyes had been viciously rubbed, like he was trying extremely hard to look like he had been sleeping.

He Zhao didn't let him down. He leaned against the doorframe, body curving, and scratched his head: "...Ah, I was sleeping."

Xie Yu looked at him and felt a headache coming on.