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0.84% She Can See Ghosts / Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Transit of Venus

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Transit of Venus

She talked as if she was really poor, but in fact, her family wasn't poor at all, instead it was the truly poor He Qing who could only bitterly smile without saying anything.

Yu Dandan kept babbling to herself, ignored by everyone, and tucked herself into her blanket to start typing away.

She was a novice writer, yet, as a top student from Ming University, her novels weren't that good. She had been mixing in the female-centric literature scene for two years now, still a nobody. The coursework at Ming University was heavy, and she only posted three thousand words a day. Compared to those bigshots on the leaderboards who wrote tens of thousands of words a day, getting floored was simply the norm. Plus, her writing style was just like her essays—female-centric literature, surprisingly lacking scheming vixens and perfect male gods plus bizarre relatives and enemies... The readers down below treated it like a serious piece of literature.

She didn't tell anyone, but He Qing knew, and when she had time, she would secretly write long comments, subscribe, and tip her.

But honestly, Yu Dandan truly lacked the talent. In her book, the male lead proposed with a ring-pull of a soda can, and the female lead agreed - leading to, for the first time, a surge of comments under a twelve-hour-episode novel, all criticisms. The author's response was very serious, "As long as the molecular structure or elements are the same, it's enough. Aren't diamonds and graphite both carbon as well..."

He Qing, silent after reading that chapter, secretly went onto TreasureNet and topped her up with two bucks worth of IQ, with a note saying "Don't need IQ, need EQ..."

Of course, from this incident alone, it was evident that He Qing's IQ was also in arrears...

He Qing laid in her blanket, face ashen, taking ages to recover, only to hear Yu Dandan thumping the bed, "Ow, ow, ow, ow! I have no inspiration!!!"

But after her howling, she said to He Qing, "Hey, what do you think if I finish this story and start writing a supernatural horror? I dreamt last night that I woke up in the middle of the night and ate myself..."

He Qing was utterly speechless.

After a while, her voice came through, "Supernatural stories are good, I... I can even provide you with some material."

Yu Dandan beamed, "Exactly, your home is in the countryside, you must have many rural ghost stories! Quick, tell me one now!"

He Qing remained silent, seemingly brewing something. Yu Dandan wasn't in a hurry and just propped herself up on her elbows, daydreaming.

"When I was a child, about six or seven years old, one day, there was a family event in the village. In our place, both happy and sad occasions are called family events. That day, right at noon, everyone had finished the banquet and was heading home one after another. But I didn't leave; I never took naps and just played around at noon. All the village kids were like that; the adults weren't worried at all."

He Qing continued, her voice becoming distant as if she was returning to that summer day of the past, the beginning of her nightmare and her chance.

She remembered clearly that year, she was exactly four years old - in the countryside, children are born already being one year old by nominal age, but she was precisely four years old by actual age. Before the age of six, the 'Innate Spiritual Fire' doesn't dissipate, with three 'lamps' on top of the skull and two shoulders - unless the person is dead, they are not likely to extinguish, especially in children. The brighter the Spiritual Fire, the more they can see.

On her way home, there was a big pond; because it was a dry summer, only a shallow layer of water remained in the middle, barely enough to cover the back of one's foot. Whenever He Qing passed by there, she kept hearing someone calling her.

"He Qing! He Qing!"

She didn't respond, as her nickname was Xiao Yu, and no one in the village called her by her full name.

But, being young and unafraid, since someone in the pond was calling her, she just sat by the pond and waited calmly, completely at ease as she liked basking in the sun from a young age. It was thirty-six or thirty-seven degrees at noon, which was very comfortable for her.

"After a while, an uncle from the village passed by her. The village was vast and sparsely populated; I barely knew him, though I did know he was from our village. The uncle recognized me and smiled, 'Xiao Yu, why haven't you gone home yet? Be careful not to get tanned.' I still remember the way he spoke, very lucid."

He Qing's voice grew more and more ethereal, and Yu Dandan dared not breathe heavily, knowing that the crucial part of the story was coming.

"And then, all of a sudden, he turned around and walked straight into the middle of the pond," she said.

"At that time, I didn't understand anything and just watched what he was doing. As a result, the uncle just stepped into the water and buried his head in it."

"That pond was a full five-minute walk from the nearest house. Even though I was young, I knew something was off, so I ran over to pull his arm."

"The water was incredibly shallow; the mud on the sides had dried up, and the uncle's face couldn't really sink in, so he just lay flat and buried his head. No matter how much I yelled beside him, he wouldn't get up, and I couldn't pull him out. Finally, my crying and shouting alerted the people nearby and they managed to rescue him."

Yu Dandan's eyes sparkled as she listened. Coming from a wealthy family, she had relentlessly focused on her studies and had never heard such bizarre tales. In fact, He Qing's story was quite ordinary and not at all engaging, but there she was, rambling on about how she was inspired...

This story, of course, was not like that.

He Qing was born at dusk, at the supernatural hour. From a young age, she had a special fondness for the sun, feeling comfort only under its rays. Although she knew she was slightly different from others, as an orphaned little girl who couldn't burden her frail grandmother, she dared not speak of it.

From a young age, she knew she was different from others, not only because she could see things others couldn't, but also because in her mind, it was normal, though she couldn't tell anyone. To this day, she still didn't know what was going on with her, especially after her grandmother had passed away, which had confused her even more.

That noon, the uncle indeed had gone into the water and buried his head. But in an instant, He Qing saw a sinister, twisted figure pulling the uncle. She could even see that every step the figure took left a puddle of water on the ground…

At exactly noon, when the sun's energy was at its peak, it coincided with a once-in-a-hundred-and-forty-year transit of Venus across the sun. The world suddenly dimmed, with only a dazzling golden circle swiftly passing across the sky… He Qing didn't know where the strength came from, but she desperately grabbed the uncle's arm.

She was young, and there were puddles on the ground; logically, she shouldn't have been able to pull him, but that day her strength was surprisingly great. Although her face turned red, her body seemed nailed to the ground, holding the uncle's hand without moving an inch!

But then, that twisted figure, in the misty weather, moved like mercury along the uncle's arm, heading straight for the center of He Qing's palm!

The feel of that icy, deep chill touched her, and He Qing shivered instantly.

Her head was muddled every day, but deep down she knew she couldn't let go; if she did, the uncle would die! So she clenched her teeth, allowing the cold to rampage through her body, crashing again and again!

During that short tug-of-war, her eyebrows and hair had already frosted over, and her complexion turned pale. Watching the uncle's arm slowly pull away in front of her—just about to slip from her grasp—suddenly, sunlight began to shine down!

The transit of Venus had ended.

As the sunlight hit He Qing, she felt as if she were suddenly filled with air, the warm sensation revitalizing her spirit. With a gritted tooth, she bit her finger and slapped her top of the skull directly!

In an instant, a shudder went through her, and the ball of icy sensation immediately dissolved in her body, leaving no trace behind.

He Qing sat down in the mud, utterly drained of strength.


Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Searching the Bed at Midnight

He Qing's parents had died shortly after her birth, and her grandmother, battling illness, had somehow managed to raise her. Only when He Qing finished her college entrance exams and learned that her scores could secure her a spot at the nationally renowned Ming University did her grandmother finally breathe a sigh of relief, content and reassured, before she passed away. The family had little savings, and even the funeral expenses had been collectively provided by the community. After deducting the costs of the funeral, just a thousand yuan was left over.

After all, He Qing's parents had been gone for so long, most personal connections had faded. Her grandmother was old and immobile, long estranged from the villagers. Thus, only a few people attended the old woman's funeral.

He Qing didn't find the thousand yuan too meager.

She stayed with her grandmother through the first seven days of mourning before buying a train ticket to the Imperial Capital. With two months left before the start of school, she found summer work for that period. Combined with financial assistance for impoverished students and an educational loan, she managed to afford her university education.

Once away from her hometown and in the Imperial Capital, whether it was due to the influence of the Coiled Dragon Pillar, spiraling above the Forbidden City, with its bright, golden luster, or perhaps because she was growing up, He Qing's abilities surged.

Consequently, she gradually cultivated a bit of courage. Although she still couldn't remain unperturbed in the face of sudden changes, she had learned, at the very least, to suppress her voice and remain silent.

Back home, she could only vaguely discern things that were different, or occasionally have flashes of spiritual light: Like when she would realize what to do in certain situations... But that was all.

However, after living in the Imperial Capital for a year, it was as if her seal had been broken. She often saw all kinds of ghosts and spirits, and sometimes, during funerals, she could see faint shadows. Unfortunately, these visions didn't end with mere sight; they plagued her every night. Over time, this made her exceedingly cautious about what she saw, fearing the stress of constantly scaring herself.

The rain outside had finally ceased, and the sky gradually darkened.

He Qing had just bought a big bag of food supplies, and together with Yu Dandan, the two decided to take it easy and just have a simple meal that evening.

While eating, He Qing couldn't help but think about the female ghost she had seen that day. Her face turned pale, but after more than a year of acclimatizing, she had improved significantly. At least now, her complexion might turn pale, but nothing more troublesome ensued.

That female ghost had such intense resentful energy...

Though the rain increased the yin energy, thunder was an element of yang at its extreme. It was clear, given how the ghost dared to cling to the couple's umbrella, that the resentment was deep.

When she considered it, the red blood that only she could see dripping down from the black surface of the umbrella... Honestly, He Qing sometimes admired herself for managing to survive without being scared to death. Now, despite some discomfort, she had mostly grown accustomed to these sights...

But Zhang Lingyan and Ling Ze were famous figures in the school. Both handsome and beautiful, they were always the focus of the gossiping students' attention. Moreover, with Ling Ze being from a poor background but exceptionally talented and ambitious, and Zhang Lingyan being wealthy, beautiful, and well-composed, both had traits that drew the gaze of others.

How could two individuals, favored by the heavens as they were, become entangled with a female ghost bearing such heavy resentment?

And, caught off guard during the day, He Qing's expression had been noticed by the female ghost. From past experience, it was only a matter of time before the ghost would come for her...

Yikes—He Qing shivered. Best to finish dinner and then worry about that.

Sure enough, in the middle of the night, when everyone in the dormitory was asleep, He Qing, lying in bed, inexplicably opened her eyes: The female ghost from the day was sitting on the edge of her bed.

This was an ordinary-looking woman, with short, dry, and frizzy hair that clearly had not been well-maintained. Her delicate features bore a hint of weariness, not likely to attract a second glance in a crowd. Her hands were stiff and rough, covered with big and small wounds and calluses, signs of someone who had done hard labor.

She sat on the edge of the bed, blood silently oozing from her joints, dripping down in a steady stream and slowly spreading across He Qing's entire bed.

He Qing couldn't stand it and frowned.

Even though she knew it was just an illusion and no blood had actually dripped onto the bed, her intermittent obsession with cleanliness couldn't be suppressed, and she decided she would take them off and wash them again tomorrow!

When the female ghost saw her open her eyes, she said excitedly and urgently, "You can see me, right? Help me! Please help me!"

As a newly formed ghost, sustained only by resentful energy, once she couldn't control her emotions and became too excited, she started to lose the ability to maintain her form, threatening to revert to the way she looked at death. He Qing certainly didn't want to see that and quickly waved her hand, setting up a small soundproof barrier—of course, this was something she was naturally able to do, and she still hadn't figured out where she had learned it from.

"Quiet, quiet!"

She winced in pain, covering her eyes. Always sleeping poorly like this would definitely age her if it continued for long...

But at least she had calmed down, and seeing that the ghost opposite her hadn't deformed, she said listlessly, "Hurry up, get to the point, and tell me everything all at once."

Seeing that Zheng Mingcui was about to burst forth with momentum, she no longer indulged in her own hatred but quickly got to the point.

It was a clichéd story, but every time He Qing heard similar tales, she couldn't help feeling a burst of frustration: Damn it, one day I'll annihilate these disgusting men!

"My name is Zheng Mingcui, I'm from the same village as Ling Ze. His family only has their treasured only son, whereas I am an orphan whose parents are both dead."

The female ghost touched her dry hair and smiled bitterly, "Do you think I'm not very pretty? Actually, when I was dating Ling Ze, I was only fifteen. Back then, my family was still around, I ate well, and I was considered one of the prettiest in our area."

"But later, my family died in an accident. Since both parties were at fault, they only compensated a hundred thousand yuan. That amount of money was very substantial at the time. I had planned to use that money to study, but Ling Ze said his family could no longer afford his education."

"I was so foolish at that time," the female ghost, Zheng Mingcui, let out tears tinged with blood.

"I was already in my second year of high school when I dropped out for him. Then I paid his college tuition fees first—it was so expensive, almost twenty thousand, and there were living expenses since Ling Ze said he had too much coursework in college to work part-time, so I gave him a monthly allowance as well."

"One hundred thousand yuan, with only expenses and no income, couldn't last long, so I rented a house and started working."

"A year later, when Ling Ze became a sophomore, he started stock trading and drained all my savings—the money I earned from my job and the remaining compensation, totaling more than eighty thousand yuan."

Stock trading?

He Qing remembered that Ling Ze indeed had been a prominent figure in the finance department last year and was said to have earned several tens of thousands from stocks, which was quite impressive for a student. After all, the stories in novels about turning small amounts into tens of millions in the stock market were just not possible.

This had once been a sensational topic. He Qing even wanted to try stock trading, but after a lot of fuss, she couldn't figure it out and simply gave up.

So there was a backstory, huh?


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