WATCS Chapter 7: Look Back
"I’m right here, right by your side.”
Gu Yi remembered the words Bai Nuo had said in his dream.
She said them to Lin Ming, but how could he have seen that scene? What had happened between Bai Nuo and Lin Ming?
He had a vague guess in his heart—but it was something he didn’t want to face. Because if it were true, he wouldn't be able to control himself.
If it were true… Bai Nuo had suffered too much.
Lin Ming clutched his head, his face pale, continuing in anguish:
“That night, she was at my house. I went to bed, and she lay beside me. I was so terrified I couldn’t even open my eyes. I stayed like that until dawn. I was still alive in the morning. When I got out of bed, the white high heels in front of the bed were gone. I thought maybe she wouldn’t hurt me. But when I got to school, I found out Zhang Qiang and the others… they were all dead.”
As he spoke, Lin Ming’s emotions completely collapsed. He clutched his temples, trying to ease his terror, but his voice trembled even more violently:
“They died mysteriously. All of them bled from their orifices in their sleep. The police couldn’t find the cause. But I know! It was Bai Nuo! Everyone who saw her is dead! And I heard her voice—she whispered to me that I’m next! I was terrified. I didn’t go to class. I just wandered around… and ended up here.”
Suddenly, Lin Ming jumped up and grabbed Gu Yi’s hand, pleading—just like Gu Yi had once begged him to return his jade pendant. Lin Ming’s hand was ice-cold, his palm slick with sweat.
“Gu Yi, help me. Bai Nuo thought of you as a friend when she was alive. She liked you. Please talk to her, ask her to spare me. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I just couldn’t accept it. But I don’t deserve to die for it…”
Gu Yi looked at him quietly and asked:
“What exactly did you do to Bai Nuo?”
“Don’t you understand yet?”
Bo Si exhaled a puff of smoke and said coolly,
“He said she was the girl he dreamed of. So…”
Bo Si turned his pitch-black gaze onto Lin Ming.
“Bai Nuo got pregnant. That was your doing, wasn’t it?”
“I…”
Lin Ming couldn’t deny it, but he also didn’t have the courage to admit it. He stammered, nodding and shaking his head, panic and fear written all over his face.
After all, it was a horrible crime. But he had done it.
Bo Si continued:
“You liked Bai Nuo, but she ignored you. Your pride couldn’t take it. You were jealous that Gu Yi became her friend. When you walked in, I noticed it—you have a similar build to Gu Yi. That photo on the school forum was actually you. You dressed up like Gu Yi, thinking she’d like you that way. But she hated you even more. You flew into a rage and, along with your friends, dragged her into the woods. Later, she got pregnant and committed suicide. Were you happy then?”
“No! I didn’t—!”
Bo Si’s words shattered the last bit of Lin Ming’s mental defenses. His rationality collapsed completely. Holding his head, he kept screaming. The memory itself seemed to be tormenting him too:
“I never wanted Bai Nuo to die! I admit, I was angry when she rejected me. I did terrible things. I even tried to push it all onto Gu Yi after she died. But that was Zhang Qiang and the others’ idea! I didn’t know about it! After she died, I was heartbroken. I dreamed of her every night. I said sorry to her so many times. I really didn’t think she’d take her own life over the pregnancy. If she had told me… we could’ve figured it out. My family has money. I could’ve taken care of everything so no one would’ve known!”
Bo Si narrowed his dark eyes.
“You say she was the girl of your dreams. Now she’s come to you. You should welcome her, not reject her. Put your pants back on and act like you loved her? That’s not love.”
“She’s not human! She’s a ghost now! She’s come for revenge! But I don’t want to die!” Lin Ming wept. He clung to Gu Yi and cried,
“Gu Yi, help me, please! You were the one she liked. You can help me! I’ll give you money, I’ll help you go back to school. You won’t have to work in this coffin shop anymore—you can go to university. Wouldn’t that be great—”
“BANG—!”
Lin Ming crashed to the floor!
He’d hit the chair and felt a sharp pain in his back, crying out in pain.
His right cheek was swollen, his head turned to the side, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Gu Yi’s fury was like a tidal wave—a silent storm. In all his eighteen years, he had never hit anyone.
But it wasn’t enough.
It still wasn’t enough.
In that moment, all Gu Yi could hear was the thunderous beat of his own heart. Lin Ming’s face looked hideous and disgusting to him. He wanted to tear him apart.
He remembered Bai Nuo’s smile that day on the rooftop. And the next moment, she was a mangled, bloody mess on the ground.
It was Lin Ming! Lin Ming had hurt her, gotten her pregnant, and driven her to despair and death!
Gu Yi’s eyes were bloodshot. His rage overwhelmed all rational thought. That one punch wasn't enough. He was ready to strike again, but his arm was caught.
Bo Si had grabbed him—not hard, but the moment he made contact, Gu Yi inexplicably froze.
Meeting Bo Si’s gaze, Gu Yi suddenly felt a calm settle over him.
He couldn’t explain why, but the pain in his knuckles reminded him what had just happened.
He had punched Lin Ming.
Previously, he had always avoided him.
But this bastard hurt Bai Nuo—and he didn’t have a clue about it.
Had he known, he wouldn’t have let Bai Nuo suffer alone for so long.
Had he known, he would have stopped Bai Nuo from committing suicide.
Inadvertently, he had also hurt Bai Nuo, because he never truly understood her feelings.
He felt a deep pain in his heart—so intense that words failed him, for at that moment every word seemed so feeble.
Bo Si looked at him, his eyes slightly reddened, unable to tell if it was anger or sorrow, and sighed quietly, “A man like that needs only one beating. Beat him any more and you’ll just sully your own hands.”
“You’ve beaten him already. Doesn’t that settle it?”
Lin Ming seemed completely numb to pain as he knelt on the ground, his miserable face raised in desperate plea toward Bo Si and Gu Yi:
“I beg you, please help me. I really don’t want to die. I’ll pay any price—just help me drive Bai Nuo away…”
“She has set her sights on you. Driving her away is no easy task.”
Without even glancing at Lin Ming, Bo Si walked a few steps forward and said, “A ghost appears because of its earthly attachments. She hates you—if you aren’t killed, how can she ever be satisfied?”
Lin Ming gasped in terror, “Is there really no way?”
Bo Si lowered his gaze and chuckled, “Kid, you must’ve seen some ghost movies. The fierce ghost in red kills with every strike—no one escapes. She declared the next victim would be you, and that means it’s got to be you. Her resentment runs so deep: she died with a child in her womb, dressed in red. A ghost like that would have even the Underworld King avoid her. You want her to leave you alone? In one word: impossible.”
“I’m willing to pay any price! As long as she can be freed from her resentment! Truly—I’m serious!”
Lin Ming was now so terrified he became incoherent.
Bo Si turned his head, giving him a look from eyes as black as night and utterly devoid of feeling, “Would you be willing to lose everything—even your family and future heirs?”
Hearing that there was still a chance, Lin Ming no longer hesitated. He nodded repeatedly and shouted, “Yes! As long as she leaves me alone, I’m ready for anything!”
“Alright then, let’s go have a look.”
Lin Ming grinned gratefully.
“However,” Bo Si added, “before we go, you must kowtow to me three times and loudly call me ‘Grandpa’ three times.”
“…”
Lin Ming, confused and with a puzzled look, asked, “Why must it be that way?”
“There’s no particular reason,” Bo Si replied, “I just feel that a guy like you needs a bit of humiliation to ease my mind.”
“…”
To save his life, Lin Ming swallowed his pride and complied.
Bo Si then turned toward Gu Yi, who had been silent all along, his eyes deep as he asked, “Will you come along?”
“Of course,” Gu Yi answered without hesitation, “if it means I can see Bai Nuo again.”
Bo Si smirked, “Perhaps she won’t be exactly as you remember.”
“I don’t care,” Gu Yi replied.
Bo Si reached out and ruffled his hair, “Kid, you’re quite devoted. Let’s go; maybe she wants to see you too.”
The three set off together, and on the journey, no one spoke.
Bo Si drove, Gu Yi sat in the front passenger seat, and Lin Ming sat alone in the back.
Gu Yi avoided looking at him—seeing Lin Ming would only remind him of Bai Nuo’s tragic end, something too painful to bear.
After driving for a long while, Lin Ming noticed they were not heading toward his home. Puzzled, he asked, “Where are you taking me?”
“To Bai Nuo’s grave,” Bo Si replied.
“What!?” Lin Ming exclaimed in shock. The mention of the grave reminded him of the day he had followed Bai Nuo—she had come to his own grave, standing before his tombstone, dressed in red, stunningly beautiful, yet missing a pair of human legs…
Frightened, Lin Ming asked, “Why are we going there? Can’t we just go home?”
“I need to know just how heavy her resentment is.”
As soon as Bo Si finished speaking, Gu Yi’s eyes widened and he whispered, “Bai Nuo!”
He had seen Bai Nuo!
The graveyard was in the outskirts, and at that moment the car was traveling along a small road. There were no people, only rows of dim streetlights on either side; beyond them lay fields of crops. And there, under one of the dim lights, stood Bai Nuo—her red dress billowing, her long hair softly rippling, her face as pale as death itself, staring fixedly at their car.
Gu Yi looked down and confirmed that, indeed, she had no legs.
Her slender form floated in the air as night approached. The faint light illuminated her translucent body—she had no shadow and no expression on her face. Yet as the car passed by, Gu Yi met her gaze through the window and, in that moment, clearly felt the deep sorrow emanating from her eyes.
“Bai Nuo! It’s Bai Nuo!”
Clearly, Lin Ming had seen her too. Terrified, he screamed and pointed at the receding figure of Bai Nuo with one hand, his face filled with horror as he shouted, “She’s fixated on us! We shouldn’t have come here! The last time I came here, that’s when I brought her back home!”
Bo Si’s temples twitched in irritation as he snapped, “Damn it—I told you not to look back, yet you can’t help but look and point. You’re wasting my time.”
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