The Tale of the Ghost Eyes Chapter 83 The Frozen Ghost Appears

As a precaution I let Zhao Jie borrow my protective copper, Tong Mei. I also made him a safety amulet and one of the new ones I'd learned, a house-safeguarding amulet. We didn't dare walk along the same path alone any more, but took to waiting for the group of girls so we could walk together.

The police station released a statement claiming that the man was a John Doe and would be given a burial by the city. I kept a constant lookout for his spirit, but nothing ever came. Still, I was nervous.

Zhao Jie was too. "Have you seen the frozen ghost?" He asked me on our walk to school. The group of girls had pulled ahead and we had a moment alone.

I shook my head. "Maybe his souls divided naturally and he didn't become a ghost. It's not always easy ya' know." I mentally crossed my fingers, hoping it was so.

When we passed the ditch where we found him Zhao Jie casually moved to the other side of the road. He kept his eyes on his shoes and marched ahead with renewed speed. I followed suit.

We reached the other side of the road just as a faint singing broke the winter silence. The words were in a language neither of us knew.

Zhao Jie stopped and turned to me, the whites of his eyes shone out like the snowy road. "What was that?" He said, grabbing my arm. "You said there wasn't a ghost!"

My eyes rolled in their sockets, trying to see everything at once. Zhao Jie watched me look for a moment and then slapped Tong Mei onto the arm he was holding. I screamed in surprise.

"Hey!" I said, jerking my arm back.

Zhao Jie held onto me and was jerked forward. The hand holding the copper opened as if he was trying to catch something and we watched the coin fall onto the ground and roll. Our eyes followed it as it bounced across the road to where we'd found the frozen man's body.

"What did you do that for?" I cried at him. "You're gonna scare me worse than any ghost could!"

The faint singing faded as if it were never there and was replaced by a freezing gust of wind that sounded like laughter far off in the distance.

"Well," I said, gesturing towards the ditch. "Master Ge gave me that coin, go get it!"

Zhao Jie's eyes widened impossibly further and he shook his head like a dog. "Heck no! You get it!"

A hot streak of anger knitted my eyebrows together. "Fine!" I hissed at my friend. "But you don't get to borrow it any more!"

I unconsciously raised a hand and grasped the jade amulet around my neck. Cautiously, I walked across the road towards the gutter. Zhao Jie whispered loudly behind me. "I'm sorry, Xiao Yong… I'll get it."

The snow crunched under his shoes and we walked towards the ditch together. The crisp new snow was blindingly white, but empty. There was no body, no spirit, only Tong Mei sitting lodged into the fine powder.

"Do you see anything?" He asked, voice straining.

I shook my head and said, "No."

Zhao Jie darted into the ditch, holding one arm back so I could anchor him. He grabbed the coin and a handful of snow and practically screamed, "Lets go!"

We shuffled up the ditch and sprinted the rest of the way to school.

We arrived at the schoolyard panting and sweaty despite the cold. "What's with you?" One of the girls asked.

"Ghost!" Zhao Jie said, trying to catch his breath.

"We saw something!" I added.

"No way!" She replied. "You guys are always making up dumb pranks about spirit this and ghost that!" She waved her hand dismissively and went into the building. Throughout the morning, several other students dismissed our story as well.

"We'll prove it!" Zhao Jie told a boy during lunchtime. "Come with us to the ditch where we found him after school! We heard singing and laughing and it got super cold!"

"It's winter!" The boy scoffed.

We did manage to convince a few kids to come see after school, but nothing was there. Nobody heard or saw anything. The next day was the same.

The following day You Xiaoqing asked me to stay with her after school to study for our upcoming exam. I told Zhao Jie during lunch and he agreed to wait with me.

"Yeah, I can get some of my own studying done." He said.

"Me too!" Shang Haoming chimed in with a huge grin.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Ku Tou added.

I frowned at them. "You guys never study, what are you playing at?" I asked.

"Nothing." They said as one. You Xiaoqing walked into the cafeteria just then and both of them craned their necks.

"You guys are ridiculous." I told them, casting a spoonful of beans at Ku Tou. They spattered on his face, but he didn't pay it any mind, leaning over in his seat to keep watching the group of girls pass.

"Can we stay at your house afterwards?" Shang Haoming asked, finally turning away from the girls. "I wanna be there if anything weird happens." He smiled again.

"Company would be great." I told them, "But don't expect anything supernatural."

After school our group crowded into the library and studied until the sun was lost behind the clouds and seeking shelter. When the streetlights came on, You Xiaoqing finally looked up from her textbook. "It's dark." She said, "We should get going."

Our party exited the school and went into the blowing winter wind. As I expected, Ku Tou and Shang Haoming flocked forwards and took spots on either side of You Xiaoqing, talking her ear off as we walked. Ku Tou made a joke that the wind stole from my ears and laughed raucously. He smiled at the girl and handed her a heart shaped letter. You can probably guess what was on it.

Shang Haoming saw the letter and reached behind the girl to push his friend. I started to warn her, but she ducked her head smoothly and backed away from the two boys who'd begun jabbing at one another.

I was so focused on watching my friends that I didn't notice how far we'd gotten. Above their jeers and jokes came a strange pitching hum. I reached out and stopped Zhao Jie, nodding towards the side of the road. Shang Haoming suddenly stopped mid sentence and yelled out, "Stop! What the hell is that singing?"

Zhao Jie raised a finger to his lips, his eyes wide with fear, and made a shushing noise.

Shang Haoming caught on and slapped a gloved hand to his mouth. Ku Tou sidestepped to stand in between You Xioaqing and the side of the road. He turned his head and whispered, "Don't be scared Xiaoqing. I'll protect you!"

She dipped under his arm and closed the distance between us. Speaking in a bare whisper she asked, "Xiao Yong, who is singing? Is it the frozen ghost?"

My eyes rolled again, trying not to stick on where her hand was touching my arm. "I don't see anything. I don't know..."

As if waiting for me to speak, a black shadowy figure melted out of the ditch in front of us. I watched as it rose to the height of a man and began to jump. The eerie foreign song pitched out as each foot hit the ground. "It's you!" I said.

My friend around me darted their heads around, unable to see what I could.

"Xiao Yong, can't you see it?" Zhao Jie cried.

I swallowed the heavy lump in my throat and said, "Yes, I see it."

The others moved behind me. I outstretched my arms to keep them back, feeling braver knowing they were safe.

"Where is it?" Shang Haoming whispered.

I pointed ahead of me, "Right there. Don't push me or I'll run right into it."

"Do you have any amulets?" Zhao Jie asked, unable to whisper.

"No!" I hissed over my shoulder. "I really didn't think we'd run into him!"

I watched the shadow man dancing and jumping in front of us. "I don't think he wants to hurt us…" I said.

"Is he a red ghost?" Zhao Jie asked, "Like the one before?"

I shook my head and said, "No, he's just sorta black. Nothing we haven't seen before." I thought of Master Liu and felt braver still. "I got this." I thought to myself.

"We helped him before by finding his body, maybe he's not mad at us, but something else?" I thought out loud. The shadow man continued to bounce in front of us. "He might just be a loon."

"Start walking backwards." I told my friends, "I'll stay between us and him. Maybe we can get home without having to deal with any surprises."

Walking as a group like a herd of cattle, the others started to move back towards the school. I kept my eyes on the shadow man and back stepped after them. It didn't work. When we turned left, he turned left. When we curved right across the road, so too did he.

The bravery that was heating my blood started to ebb. Thoughts of "I've never done this alone!" spurred into my mind and replaced the warmth with cold fear.

Shang Haoming asked after a few minutes, "Xiao Yong, did we shake it? What's going on?"

I shook my head, "He doesn't seem to want to let us pass."

Ku Tou turned a pale white and grabbed my arm from behind. "Maybe we should go back to the school. We can just sleep there! It'll be safe!"

"It's a good idea." I thought. "We wouldn't have to worry about fighting the ghost, or sneaking past it."

You Xiaoqing spoke up suddenly, "What does it look like? Is it horrible?"

"I can't see its features, only the outline. It's just a black…shadow."

She considered this for a moment, "Why don't we close our eyes and walk forward with our hands. If we can't see it, then there's nothing to be afraid of, right? We can just go right through it!"

"Well…" I whispered, that's one plan…"

Chapter end