My Family Is Very Odd

The club president lowered his voice and said, "This way, we can be faster. If you find anything, just say it in the group chat so everyone knows. Is that okay?"

"There are 44 of us, and there are still four places we haven't checked. We can split into four teams, one team per place, and we can finish within an hour. After we're done, we'll meet at the south gate. How does that sound?" the club president suggested.

He looked at them with his heavy dark circles, bloodshot eyes filling his whites. He looked like he really wanted to go through all these ghost stories.

But some people just didn't want to play anymore and turned to leave.

Those who were initially swayed by the president also left when they saw others leaving.

Once their hearts were no longer in it, they were like scattering sand, leaving one after another. Out of the 44 people, only 20 remained. Almost half were gone.

Li Xiao Gui nonchalantly took out a candy from her pocket and silently tore open the wrapper. A gust of night wind blew past, gently sweeping the wrapper away. It flew past Li Xiao Gui's eyelashes and landed at the feet of one of the departing individuals.

The candy wrapper glimmered faintly in the darkness before being stepped on.

Just as Li Xiao Gui was about to put the candy in her mouth, someone snatched it from her fingertips. She widened her eyes and looked over, feeling hurt.

Shen Chen, with his usual expressionless face, said sternly, "You've already had three in half an hour. No more."

Li Xiao Gui stared at him as he put the candy into his own mouth, then dejectedly lowered her eyes.

"No acting cute," Shen Chen said.

"Does acting cute not work?" Li Xiao Gui asked softly.

"No," Shen Chen replied.

"Oh," Li Xiao Gui mumbled.

The club president watched them leave one by one, his frustration growing. "Just one hour, can't you even spare one hour? There will be ghosts, there will be!"

Next to the president, someone turned to their companion and asked, "Did you see anything at the Fox Window?"

The companion shrugged. "Nope, no matter how many times I tried or how long I looked, I didn't see anything. I wasn't really expecting anything anyway. I just came to test my courage, but it's so boring. The school is just like this at night. I'm outta here!"

The one who asked shrugged as well and looked at the president. "See?"

Then they walked past him.

"I'll prove it... I'll prove that those things, they really exist. The supernatural... it's real," the club president muttered, his hands drooping.

"President, President, there are only 20 people left. Do we still need to split into four teams?" a girl asked him. Her expression, a mix of dependence and reverence, suggested she was a member of his club.

The Paranormal Society.

Although Li Xiao Gui had never seen the Paranormal Society president before nor heard his name, his fanaticism for horror and the supernatural, as described by Yuan Yuan, along with his self-proclaimed title, was enough to confirm his identity.

The president looked at the remaining 20 people and hesitated for a moment, as if afraid they too would leave. "Split up. We'll be more efficient that way. But if anything happens, you must tell me in the group chat immediately."

He emphasized it once more.

"Let's split into two teams. Five people per team seem too few. It feels safer with more people," Li Xiao Gui suggested.

The president glanced at her. "But that would take longer."

At that moment, the boy sitting behind Li Xiao Gui chimed in, "Four teams, four teams! Let's finish this quickly and go home. These are all baseless rumors. Why waste time with two teams?"

Li Xiao Gui puffed up her cheeks and glared at him. "If you don't believe it, then leave! Why are you staying?"

The boy, Xu Li, flushed red and yelled at her, "None of your business!"

"..." The president's face tightened, but he clenched his fists and held back. "Fine, four teams it is!" he said.

"There's still the girls' locker room in the gymnasium with a stall that won't open, the third bed in the infirmary, the girl who keeps jumping off the A building, and the teacher who keeps grading papers in the office. Across the arched bridge, there's a mirror you can't look at in the first-floor restroom of the activity center, the eerie 13th step that only appears at night, and an nonexistent classroom next to the library," the president said, his face still tense.

"That's four places in total. Choose whichever you want to go to. Just remember, if anything happens, report it to me in the group chat immediately."

He repeated himself for the third time.

"I choose the activity center. I'll prove to you all that I'm right," he declared with unwavering conviction.

"I'll go to the activity center too. The restroom and the 13th step sound scarier. More interesting," someone said.

"Yeah, and my classroom is in building A. I go there every day. I don't want to go there again. I want to go to the activity center too! There are dance studios, music rooms, and stuff. We can check those out!"

"No one's dancing there. What's there to see?"

"Then I'll go to the gymnasium. It's closer, right here."

"I'll go to the classrooms..."

"...The library."

"Do you still have the wrappers from the candies you ate earlier?" Shen Chen asked Li Xiao Gui.

"Here," Li Xiao Gui replied, knowing what he wanted to do. She handed him the wrappers.

"Let's split up. I'll go to the library," she said as she handed them over.

"Then I'll go to the activity center," Shen Chen replied.

The library and the activity center were both relatively secluded, located in two completely opposite directions.

"Okay!" Li Xiao Gui nodded and walked towards the group heading to the library.

After Li Xiao Gui left, someone gently poked Shen Chen's back. He turned around.

It was Liu Yan, a girl from his class. She played with her hair and asked nervously, "Shen Chen, um, it seems like we're the only two from our class here. Can I be in your group? I'm a little scared."

Shen Chen glanced at her, his expression indifferent. "Sure."

Liu Yan's face lit up with joy. "Thank you, Shen Chen."

But after agreeing, he walked past her without another word, his gaze never meeting hers.

Liu Yan: "..." She bit her lip, feeling a bit awkward, and followed him, pretending not to care.

As they walked towards their group, Liu Yan noticed that Li Xiao Gui was still standing to the side, talking to someone, and hadn't followed them.

"Um, isn't your friend coming?" Liu Yan asked.

Shen Chen followed her gaze and saw Li Xiao Gui, who resembled a soft, white bun, standing with the boy next to her. He frowned unconsciously, a gesture he didn't even notice himself. "No."

Liu Yan was taken aback, then a flicker of delight crossed her face. "Why not? Is it because there are too many people? Or is it because of... me? Am I bothering you two?"

Shen Chen shook his head firmly. "No. It has nothing to do with you." He didn't elaborate any further.

His tone was cold and resolute, each sentence ending abruptly like a door slammed shut.

Liu Yan: "..."

Li Xiao Gui stood next to the person carrying the pink doll and wearing the black backpack. She heard someone call him An Wenxu.

He had been quiet the entire time, except for answering the president's question at the very beginning. He had been walking with his head down, not interacting with anyone. No matter where they went, he remained disinterested.

His eyes were either fixed on the darkness or on the doll. He had glanced in that direction several times already.

Li Xiao Gui greeted him in a friendly manner. "Hello."

He lowered his head but didn't respond.

"What were you looking at just now?" Li Xiao Gui asked.

Silence.

Li Xiao Gui took out a candy and offered it to him. "Want some candy?"

He still didn't respond.

Li Xiao Gui looked at his doll, her eyelashes fluttering slightly. "Your doll is so cute. Can I see it?" she asked.

Silence.

"Does not speaking mean yes?" Li Xiao Gui asked.

This time, he shook his head and finally spoke. "No."

Li Xiao Gui: "..."

An Wenxu looked at her coldly, clutching the doll in his hand. The doll was a girl with long, pink hair cascading down her shoulders. She had a porcelain-white face, half-closed eyes with large pupils gazing downwards, and small, pale lips...

At that moment, Li Xiao Gui was interrupted by Xu Li, the boy who sat behind her. He ran up to her and yelled angrily, "Aren't you two close? Why isn't he in the same group as you? Why isn't he protecting you?"

"Huh? Who?" Li Xiao Gui looked at him in confusion.

Xu Li's mouth seemed to be tied in knots, unable to utter the words. He then pointed angrily to the side.

Li Xiao Gui followed his finger and saw Shen Chen standing opposite them.

Regardless of what the people around him were saying, Shen Chen's gaze remained fixed straight ahead, piercing through them. His eyes and lips remained motionless, unchanging from one minute to the next, like an emotionless statue.

Although Shen Chen had always been expressionless since childhood, it seemed like he had become even more so as he grew older, and even more taciturn.

Li Xiao Gui snapped back to reality. Realizing what he was talking about, she became even more confused. "Because I want to go to the library, and he wants to go to the activity center. And why would I need protection? I can protect myself. I don't need protection," she said matter-of-factly.

"Protect yourself, my ass!" Xu Li retorted, his face red and his neck veins bulging.

Li Xiao Gui blinked innocently. "???"

Why was he cursing? Just talk normally!

Seeing her innocent expression, Xu Li spat out angrily, "So annoying!"

Then, with a malicious smirk, he looked at her with disdain. "Hmph, you just wait. You better not wet your pants in fear! The library is pretty secluded! Don't cry when you get scared, and see if anyone bothers to comfort you!"

"Oh," Li Xiao Gui simply replied.

She turned her back to him, refusing to acknowledge him any further.

As she turned around, she saw the club president walking towards her.

She overheard the president instructing a boy in his group to start a video call in their group chat once they set off.

The boy's name was Li Zhen.

Without any hesitation, Li Zhen nodded in agreement.

After giving his instructions, Li Xiao Gui saw the president walking towards another group. Although they had split up, they weren't that far apart. She could hear the president repeating the same instructions to someone in that group.

Judging from his commanding tone, Li Xiao Gui guessed that they were also members of the Paranormal Society.

This president was really persistent, she thought to herself.

Soon, they set off again. The person who had stepped on the candy wrapper walked past Li Xiao Gui, and she followed behind them, heading in the opposite direction.

Walking in the darkness with only five people was indeed much creepier than walking with a large group.

The constant buzzing of video calls and static from one of the phones in their group only added to the eerie atmosphere. The boy with the black backpack and pink doll became even more conspicuous in the quiet solitude.

The lifelike doll looked terrifying in the darkness, its realistic face eerily still. The pink hair swayed back and forth in the cold light of the phone screen and the darkness of the night.

And they actually needed a doll for the "Nonexistent Classroom."

They had no choice but to endure it.

The library was quite secluded. As they reached the bottom floor, the other groups had already started live streaming their progress in the group chat.

"We've arrived at building A. Haven't seen the girl who keeps jumping off the building."

"We've been in the gymnasium stall for 20 minutes, and nothing's happened."

"We're at the infirmary now."

"Nothing on the infirmary bed either."

"We're heading to the office now."

Li Xiao Gui and her group stepped onto the stairs and made their way up, floor by floor. The higher they went, the quieter it became.

Apart from the sounds from the live stream, no one spoke.

The atmosphere was incredibly still.

Finally, they reached the top floor, where the library was located. At this late hour, the library was deserted, filled only with the scent of old books and stale air.

Li Xiao Gui heard Li Zhen explaining, "There are two locked, unused classrooms next to the library on the top floor. No one knows why they were never used. But that's not the important part. The important part is that at night, a third classroom, a nonexistent classroom, appears at the very end of the library, behind the two locked classrooms."

"The third classroom won't be locked. If someone finds this classroom, sits down at a desk, places a doll on the table, takes out a notebook, and writes the name of the person they hate the most on a blank page while thinking about that person, a ghost will appear and help them kill that person."

Except for Xu Li, who scoffed, "How boring," everyone else listened attentively to Li Zhen's words.

"So, are we really going to write someone's name? Or should we just leave if we find the nonexistent classroom?" Li Xiao Gui asked.

"If we really find the nonexistent classroom, of course we have to summon the ghost before leaving! How can we leave without seeing the ghost with our own eyes?" Li Zhen replied, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

His voice had been casual and conversational until this point. It was only now that Li Xiao Gui truly felt like he was a member of the Paranormal Society.

After expressing his obsession, his voice returned to its usual gentleness. "But don't worry, we've already thought about it. If we really encounter the nonexistent classroom, we'll all write Doraemon's name and only think about Doraemon. No one will actually die."

Li Xiao Gui: "..."

More voices came from the group chat.

"It's been 20 minutes, and still nothing at the infirmary."

"Nothing at the office either."

"Same with the first-floor restroom in the activity center. We're going upstairs now."

Each flight of stairs in the activity center had 12 steps.

The dance studio was on the top floor of the activity center, and above that was the rooftop, which was locked and inaccessible. However, after midnight, if one were to walk up from the dance studio, a 13th step would appear.

Once they stepped on the 13th step, the rooftop door, which was previously locked, would be unlocked. But if they opened it, they would see another world and never be able to return.

"We've reached the library."

Both the activity center and the library were quite far away, with the library being the farthest. By the time they reached their respective destinations, Shen Chen had just finished checking the restroom and was heading upstairs, while Li Xiao Gui had only just arrived at the library.

"We're on the top floor of the library now."

"We're on the sixth floor."

The night was pitch black, and even with the flashlight, the video only showed grainy, blurry images.

"We're going to check the classrooms now."

"We're climbing the stairs."

The static was punctuated by nervous breaths and the slow shuffling of footsteps.

Then came the president's excited voice, followed by a girl's timid voice.

"One, two, three..."

"Sh-Shen Chen, I'm a little scared..."

"If you're scared, why didn't you stay behind?"

"...Be-because..." Her voice trailed off, becoming a soft murmur, filled with a hint of coyness. "I-I'm a little curious about ghost stories. Do you like ghost stories too?"

"No."

"..."

After a moment of silence, the girl spoke again. "Shen Chen, can I hold onto your clothes? I'm scared..."

"If you're scared, you can stand at the back."

"Oh... okay, Shen Chen. Shall we go together?"

"No need. I'm not scared."

"..."

Li Xiao Gui didn't hear the girl's voice again. All she could hear was the president counting the steps.

"Six, seven, eight..."

They were also peering through the windows into the classrooms. The classrooms were furnished with desks and chairs, and there were still words written on the blackboard in chalk, but everything was covered in dust. It was a typical classroom that had been used before but was now abandoned.

Above the blackboard hung a red banner with the words "Strive, Diligence, Self-Improvement" written on it.

They reached the main door, which was locked with a rusty old padlock.

The classrooms were spaced quite far apart.

By the time they reached the second classroom, the group in the video had already counted to twelve.

These were the last two.

"Heh, I knew it! There's nothing here! Ghost stories are all fake," Xu Li snorted, crossing his arms with disdain.

Just when Li Xiao Gui was starting to think the same thing, the girl in their group gulped and said, "Is there an extra classroom up ahead?"

Looking ahead from the window of the middle classroom, they saw that instead of ending in darkness, there was another classroom...

Li Zhen's eyes widened, his voice trembling with excitement. "The nonexistent classroom!! The nonexistent classroom! President, we've actually found the nonexistent classroom!"

Xu Li remained skeptical. "That classroom was probably always there!" he said.

The president snatched the phone from the girl who was live streaming and pressed his face close to the screen, his voice urgent. "N-no! This must be the third classroom, the nonexistent one! I told you it exists! I told you! We can prove it now! We can prove it! Wait for me, we'll be there soon!"

"President, you didn't find the 13th step either?" someone asked.

In the video, the flashlight beam illuminated the area ahead, revealing a locked door at the end of the hallway.

"See? The 13th step is fake. Ghost stories are all lies. This must be fake too. This library is so remote. I don't believe you've been here before. This classroom must have always been here. If you don't believe me, come back tomorrow morning and see for yourself!" Xu Li shouted.

An Wenxu, who had been silent the entire time, stared straight ahead and spoke for the first time since they had set off. "Whether it's real or not, we'll know once we go in, right?"

Li Zhen, holding his phone, chimed in, "Yeah, let's just go and see if the classroom is locked or not. If it's not locked, then it must be the nonexistent classroom!" His eyes were alight with excitement.

"Let's go then!"

Li Xiao Gui took out a candy from her pocket, her eyes turning wary.

Just as she was about to unwrap it, the candy was snatched from her hand. Her wary eyes turned confused as she looked up.

"You have more candy? Give it to me!" Xu Li smirked at her.

Li Xiao Gui stared at the smug boy, her empty hand raised, her brows furrowing.

Why did everyone like to steal candy from her?

Dejected that she couldn't enjoy her candy, Li Xiao Gui lowered her hand. If she took out another candy now, he would definitely try to steal it again! He always loved to mess with her, and Li Xiao Gui refused to play his childish games.

The third classroom was no different from the first two, except for one crucial detail: it was unlocked.

Xu Li's words died in his throat as he rolled the stolen candy around in his mouth. "E-even so..."

An Wenxu, holding the doll in one hand, reached for the doorknob with his other hand, a smile spreading across his face. "Let's go in and see then, shall we?"

Li Zhen held up his phone and excitedly filmed the door for the others to see. "It's unlocked, it's really unlocked! This must be the nonexistent classroom!"

Even though Li Xiao Gui initially thought it was just her imagination, as she stood at the entrance of this classroom, she couldn't sense any trace of resentment. While a malicious ghost could disguise itself as an ordinary, harmless spirit, it couldn't completely conceal its resentment, which clung to it like a shadow.

Yet, this classroom undoubtedly gave her an uneasy and unnatural feeling.

It was a contradiction that puzzled Li Xiao Gui.

She glanced at the doll in An Wenxu's hand, recalling the story of the nonexistent classroom.

"Maybe we shouldn't go in," she said, placing a hand on An Wenxu's arm.

However, deep down, she knew it was futile. They were already at the doorstep. Still, her teacher had always emphasized that it was a matter of courtesy and responsibility for an exorcist to at least attempt to dissuade their clients.

As she looked at him with her clear, light brown eyes, she discreetly slipped a talisman into his backpack.

Before he could respond, the door was flung open with a loud bang. "Let's go!"

For some reason, Xu Li glared at Li Xiao Gui with hostility.

Although startled and a little annoyed, Li Xiao Gui seized the opportunity when he turned his head and tossed another talisman at him. Xu Li remained oblivious as he stepped on the talisman without noticing.

Li Zhen tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, we're fully prepared."

Li Xiao Gui took out a talisman from her pocket. "Is this what you mean?"

"You came prepared too? Yes, that's it. And I even got these talismans and jade pendants from a temple. If you're still scared, you can wait outside. We won't force you," Li Zhen said.

The other girl in their group immediately spoke up, saying that she would just watch from the window.

"I still want to go in," Li Xiao Gui said. "But can I trade talismans with you?"

"Of course."

As Li Xiao Gui stepped into the classroom, the unsettling feeling intensified. She frowned. An Wenxu had already found a seat and sat down silently. He placed the doll on the desk in front of him and took out a blank sheet of paper from his backpack.

He smoothed it out mechanically.

The pink doll sat obediently on the desk, her head lowered, her lifeless eyes staring straight ahead.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

Love what you read?