The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

Zhou Xing was somewhat skeptical that there was a temple behind it, so he said to Wang Xiaoshuai, "How can you prove it? The door behind it is always locked, the lock is rusted shut, have you ever been inside?"

Wang Xiaoshuai was speechless for a moment, and Zhou Xing continued, "You believe everything others say? You haven't even been there yourself, how can you be so sure!"

Seeing his disbelief, Wang Xiaoshuai grew anxious: "Why would I lie to you? He described it in such detail, and he even told me that there's a room in the locked courtyard behind here, with a large pit inside, used for burning people alive!"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned for a moment, because our classroom was on the third floor, which gave us a good view of some buildings behind the old classrooms, and there really did seem to be a very large chimney at the very back of those old classrooms.

Zhou Xing looked at Wang Xiaoshuai: "You're just bragging, making it sound so real."

Seeing the two arguing, another student in the dorm suddenly said, "What are you arguing about? What's the point? Don't you know how to climb inside and take a look? What's the point of arguing here!"

A few people turned around, and the one who spoke was one of our classmates who had better grades. His name was Liu Qiang. He was nearsighted and wore glasses all the time, so we gave him the nickname "Show-off Glasses" because this guy liked to attend adult crash courses at night when he had nothing to do! He was the ace pilot in our dormitory.

Hearing this, the group became even more excited. Zhou Xing, who was naturally bold, exclaimed to us, "That's right! Let's go in and see for ourselves! You bastard, do you dare to go?!"

Wang Xiaoshuai hesitated for a moment, glanced at me, and said, "Tch, what's there to be afraid of? Brother Yuan, let's do it together!" He always brags to me about how brave he is and wants me to tell him ghost stories. I guess he's afraid of losing face, so he said arrogantly, "Tch, what's there to be afraid of? Brother Yuan, let's do it together!"

I was speechless for a moment, then quickly shook my head and waved my hand, saying, "No, no, you two go by yourselves! I'm a coward, and my second master told me to be wary of these things."

Zhou Xing said to me, "What are you afraid of? I don't believe there are really ghosts. It's all just scaremongering. What era are we living in? Why would we still believe in that stuff? We'll put the two of us in the middle for you, so don't back down!"

I shook my head like a rattle-drum, refusing to go no matter what.

But those two old guys were like glue, insisting on dragging me along. I finally gave in, and neither of them would back down. Wang Xiaoshuai asked him, "When are we going? Pick a time, do you think I'm afraid of you?!"

Zhou Xing grinned slyly and said, "Why bother picking a stupid time? We'll go tonight. Let's agree on what we're betting on first. What if it's not a temple or something?"

When I heard that we were going tonight, I immediately chickened out and hurriedly said, "Sorry to bother you, you guys go by yourselves, I won't go."

Wang Xiaoshuai punched me on the shoulder: "Hey Yuan-ge, it's much more exciting to go at night. You're more likely to get caught during the day. Getting taken to the dean's office is scarier than seeing a ghost."

When I heard him say that, I remembered the dean of the academic affairs office looking constipated and unable to poop. I felt he was scarier than a ghost. But I was really afraid of causing trouble. However, they didn't give me a chance to refuse. They dragged me to eat while talking and shouting. After we came back, we prepared a flashlight and waited for the lights to go out so we could sneak out of the dormitory.

They waited anxiously, while I was extremely unwilling. Just as I was about to collapse into bed, the dormitory lights were turned off.

As the dormitory lights went out, Zhou Xing and Wang Xiaoshuai tiptoed to my side. Wang Xiaoshuai said, "Come on, I've packed everything. Don't forget, whoever loses has to wash the other's stinky socks for a week!"

I was speechless for a moment, and said weakly to the two of them, "The lights were just turned off. What if they launch a surprise attack later?"

Zhou Xing said to me, "What raid? I've planted a spy in the dorm. If anyone comes, Glasses will send us a message and we'll come back."

I was somewhat reluctantly dragged up by the two of them. As they opened the dormitory door, a bone-chilling cold wafted out, damp and cold.

All we could hear was the patter of raindrops falling on the awning outside the dormitory balcony. Zhou Xing urged me and Wang Xiaoshuai, "Hurry up, or we'll get caught."

We left the dormitory building and walked towards the teaching building under a particularly heavy drizzle. As we walked, I asked Wang Xiaoshuai hesitantly, "Fatty, how do we get in?"

When Wang Xiaoshuai saw me asking him a question, he said to me, "I know where we can climb over; just follow me!"

Wang Xiaoshuai led Zhou Xing and me to the foot of the teaching building. Zhou Xing and I were both a little confused. Wang Xiaoshuai whispered to us, "Let's go around behind the public toilet in the teaching building."

Zhou Xing and I were immediately hesitant, because behind the public toilet was a garbage dump, messy, filthy, and smelly, and there was no way to get there. There was also a dry latrine for emptying excrement; if we accidentally fell in late at night, and the King of Hell asked how we died, we'd just say we ate too much shit!

Zhou Xing was unwilling, so he said to Wang Xiaoshuai, "Damn it, brother! There's a door right behind the main entrance of the teaching building. We can't climb over the main entrance, or we'll fall into the latrine."

Wang Xiaoshuai, panting heavily, said, "There are security cameras over there. If we get seen, we're finished tomorrow. Don't worry, just follow me. I've been to the garbage dump with them before, I know the way!"

Zhou Xing and I looked at Wang Xiaoshuai. Although it was extremely dark, we could still see his serious expression through the dim streetlights. We thought to ourselves that this bastard had scouted the area beforehand, so we decided to trust him this once and see where he was leading us.

We walked past the public restroom in the teaching building, and were hit by a stench of feces and ammonia fumes that were quite pungent. Zhou Xing and I held our breath and urged Wang Xiaoshuai to hurry on. After walking for a few minutes, we arrived at the garbage dump. It probably hadn't been cleaned for several days, probably because of the rain. Although the smell coming from the garbage dump was also terrible, it was better than the stench of excrement in the dry toilet.

Wang Xiaoshuai led us along a slope overgrown with weeds to the right of the garbage heap. The water droplets on the weeds quickly soaked our pants. I tried to make out what was going on, and realized that we were walking along the top of the teaching building. But I had never actually been to the back of the teaching building before. I usually just go to get out of class, eat, and sleep. I don't really like any kind of exercise.

The three of us walked forward cautiously. It was already dark, and it had rained, so the slope under our feet was very slippery. Several times, I almost lost my footing and fell into the stinking ditch in the garbage dump.

Four minutes into the walk, when Zhou Xing and I were almost cursing, Wang Xiaoshuai hurriedly called out to us, "Hey, hey, that's it! We're here!"

He then walked heavily toward the wall of the teaching building, and Zhou Xing and I followed behind him. When we got closer, we realized that it was a broken brick wall. There was a broken wooden window in the wall. Upon closer inspection, we found that two of the wooden bars in the middle of the window had been knocked off, just big enough for a person to squeeze through. However, looking at Wang Xiaoshuai's size, I estimated that the fat thief would have a hard time squeezing in.

But when the group reached the broken window sill, they hesitated because it was pitch black inside and they couldn't see anything. So they pushed each other aside.

Zhou Xing teased Wang Xiaoshuai, "Go for it, Fatty! You started it, aren't you brave? Don't be a coward!"

I could tell that Wang Xiaoshuai wasn't actually very brave; he was just usually stubborn. Luckily, this simpleton knew how to make excuses, and he gave an irrefutable reason: "Uh, it's not that I don't want to go in first, but look how fat I am. If I squeeze in and get stuck, I won't be able to get in or out, which would be so embarrassing. How about this!"

Then Wang Xiaoshuai grinned foolishly at me. I instantly understood what this beast meant and quickly said to the two of them, "Don't look at me. I didn't want to come in the first place. If you're too scared to go in, then I'm going back!"

When Wang Xiaoshuai heard me say I was going back, he hurriedly said, "No way! We're already here, I still want Zhou Xing to wash my smelly socks for a week!"

Zhou Xing rolled his eyes at him: "Give me a break. If you're scared, what excuse are you making? Just watch me!"

As he spoke, he grabbed the windowsill where the bars had been removed, making a move to climb over, but then he turned back to me and Wang Xiaoshuai and said, "You two better not chicken out and not dare to go in after I get in!"

He then pulled out a candle and lit it. Seeing him light the candle, we were worried the light would attract attention, so Wang Xiaoshuai quickly said to him, "Damn, bro, why did you light a fire? What if we get caught!"

Zhou Xing scoffed, "Found nothing! This garbage dump is stinking and creepy. Who would be crazy enough to run there? Do you think everyone in school is like the three of us? Hurry up! Hold this up and shine it in there, just in case there are any hidden weapons!"

Then Zhou Xing started to climb inside. We were afraid he wouldn't be able to get in, so we pushed him from behind, peeking inside by the candlelight. There was nothing inside, just a normal classroom, albeit an old one. It was the kind of small, tiled-roof schoolhouse you see in the countryside, with no white walls or windows, just brick and wood. But this old classroom must have been abandoned for who knows how many years; there was nothing inside.

After Zhou Xing went inside, he said to us, "Come in quickly, there's nothing inside."

Wang Xiaoshuai deliberately teased him, "Oh, there's nothing there? Then let's go back!"

Zhou Xing cursed at him, "Go to hell!"

I looked at Wang Xiaoshuai and told him not to scare Zhou Xing so late at night: "Hey, don't joke around, you can scare someone to death!"

Then I let him go in too, because Wang Xiaoshuai was really too fat, and I was afraid that if Zhou Xing and I both went in, this guy really wouldn't be able to get in later.

Just as Zhou Xing and I had expected, Wang Xiaoshuai was indeed stuck between the window bars. Fortunately, Zhou Xing and I managed to push and pull him inside.

I was already quite thin, and when I reached my hand onto the windowsill, before I was even ready to climb over, those two beasts, afraid I would run away, grabbed me and pulled me inside.

The three of us observed the classroom by candlelight. Apart from the blackboards at the front and back that used to be made of cement plaster, there was nothing else in the classroom.

Seeing nothing unusual, Zhou Xing gestured for us to go outside. So we walked towards the classroom door, which had long been neglected and lay on the ground, only half of it remaining; the other half was nowhere to be found.

Stepping outside the classroom, raindrops pattered into the leaf-strewn ditch under the eaves. The open space outside the classroom was already overgrown with weeds, bushes, and thorns. We were curious because we heard a very strange sound—a gurgling sound coming from the bushes, like bubbles popping in water.

Wang Xiaoshuai stood there dumbfounded, suddenly asking, "Who's boiling water?"

Zhou Xing, perhaps speechless at Wang Xiaoshuai's words, quickly retorted, "I'll make you some soup, go drink it quickly, maybe there's a beautiful senior student hiding in it!"

Wang Xiaoshuai: "Go to hell!"

Then Zhou Xing said he was going to check out a classroom, so we followed him. But when we got to the next classroom, it was no different from the one we had come in from. The only difference was that there was some trash and cardboard in the classroom and the classroom door was still hanging on the door.

Seeing that the classrooms were all empty, Zhou Xing said to Wang Xiaoshuai, "Looks like some people will have to wash their socks!"

Wang Xiaoshuai immediately retorted, unconvinced, "What's your rush? We haven't even reached the big chimney yet; it's still uncertain who will have the last laugh!"

The three of us were like thieves, soaked and cold, but our growing curiosity was irresistible. Sometimes people are just really perverse. Take me, for example. I'm naturally introverted, and while I'm not as brave as the two in front of me, the thought of running into this gloomy, dilapidated classroom with them late at night shows I'm not so timid after all.

We looked at five or six classrooms in a row, but we didn't find anything special in any of them. They were either completely empty, or there were some leftover textbook scraps, or broken wooden desks and benches.

After walking around for most of the way and feeling like there was nothing particularly interesting, we came across a passage. The passage wasn't very long, and we could hear raindrops dripping from the eaves behind it. Upon seeing the passage, Wang Xiaoshuai perked up and said to Zhou Xing and me, "The temple must be just beyond this."

Perhaps Zhou Xingdu was tired of seeing empty classrooms, so he mocked him, "Come on, you say every single one of these classrooms is a converted old temple? Where on earth do you see any architectural style from the old temples in these classrooms? You still won't admit defeat!"

Wang Xiaoshuai looked at Zhou Xing, who was holding a candle: "What's the rush? It's so early. Let's take our time. This place is most likely the temple."

The men spoke casually, but we knew all too well that we were getting closer and closer to the chimney. If what Wang Xiaoshuai said was true, that the room under the chimney was where executioners used to burn their bodies, how terrifying that would be!

The group moved forward slowly, like thieves, carefully observing their surroundings.