The Curse Spot: The Way of No Return at Nanming High School
Late at night, with low-hanging clouds and a profound silence enveloping everything.
The boy in front of the computer shows no signs of sleepiness, looking rather enthusiastic. The room is illuminated only by a desk lamp, casting limited light that leaves the whole room somewhat dark. Four metal-frame beds stand rigidly in the darkness, resembling stiff corpses emitting a sinister and ghostly glow.
Yes, this is a boys' dorm room, and at the moment, only the boy is present, on a weekend.
His hands continually tap on the keyboard, his gaze fixed on the screen as a QQ friend sends him a file.
Once the file transfer is completed, he opens it.
It's a FLASH file. The animation starts with a pitch-black corridor, revealing only two feet in canvas shoes moving forward. A low, rhythmic sound of footsteps plays in his headphones. As the animation progresses, a faint light gradually pierces the darkness, and a blurry figure appears in the center of the screen – a girl in a blue school uniform, her disheveled hair covering half of her face as she leans against the wall like a statue.
A pounding heartbeat fills his headphones, matching the accelerating pace of the boy's own heart as it synchronizes with the beat...
The girl lifts her head, her dark hair slowly parting to reveal empty eye sockets, from which a deep crimson blood flows down...
The boy jerks off his headphones, breathing heavily. The image of the girl on the screen starts to blur, fading into the black background, followed by several large, blood-red words.
"Welcome, new student."
Taking a breath, the boy prepares to close the FLASH file when suddenly, a sound of a door opening echoes behind him. How could the door open when it was locked? Startled, he turns around, only to freeze at the sight of a girl in a blue uniform, disheveled hair, standing before him with blood streaming from her eyes...
With terror in his wide eyes, the boy collapses to the floor. The FLASH on the computer screen ends, the dark background turning blood-red, the crimson light from the desk lamp casting a macabre glow on the boy's face, as if creating a tragically beautiful scene.
Alas, the boy ceases to breathe, his life forever trapped within this chilling tableau.
The door creaks open, the night wind carrying a ghostly presence rushing in, unveiling the beginning of a dark tale...
When Lu Xu entered the classroom, several boys were busy distributing new books. They were already in their final year of high school, with plenty of review materials in addition to the basic textbooks.
In preparation for the college entrance examination, every student was preoccupied and had no time for anything else. It wasn't until Lu Xu sat in the empty seat at the back row that everyone stopped what they were doing, staring fearfully at him in unison.
"Classmate, you... you can't sit here," a girl rushed over from the front, anxiously speaking.
“Why? Is someone already sitting here?” Lu Xu looked at her quizzically.
“No, it’s just that... just that...” The girl hesitated, unsure of how to explain.
Ignoring her, Lu Xu sat down.
The girl wanted to say more, but the bell for class had already rung, so she had to return to her own seat.
For Lu Xu, the teacher only had him briefly introduce himself before starting the lesson. During the class, Lu Xu didn't really pay attention. He always felt like there were eyes on him, and whenever he looked up, those eyes would quickly avert.
It seemed that the attention on him was more important than the lesson. Lu Xu knew why – it was because he was sitting in the cursed seat.
Two years ago, a girl named Liu Min hanged herself in the classroom due to unbearable pressure. Her body was hanging above the seat where Lu Xu now sat. It was said that her death was horrifying, with her body stiff and upright, eyes wide open in a dead stare.
Since then, various rumors spread among the students. Some said Liu Min refused to accept her death and searched for a substitute in the classroom every day. Others claimed to have seen Liu Min's ghost at night, repeating her final moments because she had committed suicide. Over time, that seat became taboo in Class 4 of the senior year, and even new students avoided sitting there.
If Liu Min's death was the origin of the horror, then Li Qiang continued it and became the evidence of the curse on that seat.
Li Qiang was the only person in South Ming High School who didn't believe in ghosts. He boldly sat in Liu Min's place, steadfast in his belief that the supposed curse was just a silly joke. To prove his point, he even stayed at school overnight, not going home even on weekends.
Li Qiang stayed at the school for seven days before being found dead in the dormitory one weekend.
The police investigated for a long time but never found the culprit. However, the cursed seat in Class 4 of the senior year became a source of fear not only in South Ming High School but also in the entire city. People endlessly discussed the strange and mysterious nature of that seat. Some even claimed that beneath the building was the grave of a scholar from the Qing Dynasty, who ended his life in despair. Liu Min's suicide was said to be influenced by his spirit.
Q had told Lu Xu that if possible, break the curse.
Yes, it must be done.
Evening self-study is over, and classmates are packing up their textbooks, gradually leaving the classroom.
Lu Xu remained seated, still working on a few unresolved questions. By the time he solved those problems, the classroom was empty, as if it were a deserted tomb.
After organizing his books, Lu Xu walked towards the front, each empty seat in the silent classroom resembling a tombstone, with some numbers already blurred.
Upon reaching the doorway, Lu Xu switched off the classroom lights.
As the lights went off, a low sob seemed to echo from a corner of the classroom.
"Who's there?" Lu Xu called out into the darkness.
"Sigh." The sob turned into a sigh, faint but clear in Lu Xu's ears.
Alarmed, Lu Xu switched the lights back on, the fluorescent tubes flickering before glowing.
Apart from the silent desks and chairs, nothing else was in the classroom, except for the exam guidelines on the blackboard and a mischievous student's drawing of a crooked head with a sinister smile directed at him.
"Ghost school," Lu Xu muttered offhandedly, turned the lights off again, and left.
It was past ten at night, with almost no one left in the school building. The motion-sensor lights occasionally flickered on and off, then faded into silence.
Only Lu Xu's footsteps echoed in the hallway, sounding monotonous, as his uneasy heart replayed a conversation with Q.
"You're sure about transferring to Nanming High School?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you afraid of curses?"
"Curses reside in the human heart, perhaps the heart harbors ghosts."
"So, you aim to discover that ghost?"
"Exactly."
"How should I thank you, if... if something happens to you as well?"
"Then I'll have to ask you to find me."
Memories of fear distracted Lu Xu, prompting him to quickly leave the dim hallway.
Stepping out of the campus, his phone rang, his father calling to say he would be working late at the office and might not return until dawn.
This wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
Lu Xu's urgency to return home faded away instantly. Instead of hailing a taxi as planned, he changed course, slowly walking along the path behind the school.
The dimly lit pathway under the night sky felt desolate, occasionally illuminated by headlights from passing vehicles. Memories of his past journeys along this path intensified the inner sense of loss in Lu Xu.
"Lu Xu." Suddenly, someone called out to him.
Looking up, Lu Xu saw a boy standing ahead, looking familiar but unable to recall his name.
"I'm Luo Ziming, from Class 4 of Grade 12. You just transferred to our class today, hehe," Luo Ziming clarified as he noticed Lu Xu's confusion.
"Oh, why aren't you heading home?" Lu Xu noticed Luo Ziming carrying a dark plastic bag, walking back towards the school.
"I forgot my keys on the desk, have to go get them." Luo Ziming smiled, "I'm heading back now; the school will be closing soon."
Lu Xu nodded.
As Luo Ziming passed by him, the black plastic bag rustled in the wind. Lu Xu glanced inadvertently and saw what seemed to be a figure inside the plastic bag.
More precisely, it was a paper figure.
Lu Xu froze. Why was Luo Ziming carrying a paper figure to the classroom at this late hour? He wanted to ask, but Luo Ziming had already walked away. The black plastic bag swayed with Luo Ziming's movement, and the paper figure inside appeared like a corpse emerging from a coffin.
Unnerved, Lu Xu hurriedly ran forward.
Evening self-study is over, classmates are tidying up their textbooks one after another, and gradually leaving the classroom.
Lu Xu sat still, still having a few problems he hadn't figured out. By the time he solved those problems, the classroom was already empty, as if it were a lonely grave.
After packing up his books, Lu Xu walked forward, and the empty seats in the quiet classroom seemed like tombstones, with some of the numbers already blurred.
When he reached the doorway, Lu Xu turned off the classroom lights.
Wuu wuu wuu... As the lights went out, a low sob seemed to come from a corner of the classroom.
"Who's there?" Lu Xu shouted into the dark classroom.
"Sigh..." The sob turned into a sigh, faint but clear as it reached Lu Xu's ears.
Lu Xu hurriedly turned the lights back on; the fluorescent bulb flickered a few times before glowing.
Other than the silent desks and chairs, there was nothing else in the classroom, with the blackboard behind displaying exam reminders, while next to it, a mischievous student had drawn a crooked head with a creepy smile aimed at him.
"A haunted school," Lu Xu casually remarked, then turned the lights off again and walked out.
It was well past 10 at night, and the school building was nearly deserted, with the motion-sensor lights occasionally startling awake and then quickly dimming back into silence.
Only Lu Xu's footsteps echoed in the corridor, sounding somewhat monotonous, as apprehension crept into his heart. His mind flashed back to a conversation with Q.
"Are you sure you want to go to Nanming High School?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you afraid of curses?"
"Curses lie in people's hearts; perhaps it's the darkness within people."
"So, you want to uncover that darkness?"
"Exactly."
"How can I thank you, if, if something happens to you as well?"
"Then I'll have to ask you to come find me."
Memories of fear scattered Lu Xu's thoughts, prompting him to quickly exit the dim corridor.
As he left the campus, his phone rang—it was his father calling, saying he would be working late tonight at the office, possibly returning at dawn.
This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened.
Lu Xu's urgency to get home suddenly dissipated. Initially planning to hail a taxi, he changed his mind and slowly walked along the path behind the school.
The dimly lit path under the night sky felt desolate, with occasional headlights from passing cars reminding Lu Xu of memories from his past walks, intensifying the sense of loss in his heart.
"Lu Xu." Suddenly, someone called his name.
Lu Xu looked up to see a boy standing in front of him, looking somewhat familiar but whose name eluded Lu Xu.
"I'm Luo Ziming, from Class 4 of Grade 12. You just transferred to our class today," Luo Ziming said, noting Lu Xu's confusion.
"Oh, why aren't you heading home?" Lu Xu noticed Luo Ziming carrying a black plastic bag, walking back towards the school.
"I forgot my keys on the desk; I'm going back to get them," Luo Ziming smiled. "I should leave now; the school will close soon."
Lu Xu nodded.
As Luo Ziming passed by him, the black plastic bag rustled in the wind, and Lu Xu unintentionally glanced inside—it seemed to contain a figure.
More precisely, a paper figure.
Lu Xu froze; why was Luo Ziming carrying a paper figure to the classroom so late at night? He wanted to ask, but Luo Ziming had already gone far ahead, the black plastic bag swaying with his movements, the paper figure inside appearing like a corpse emerging from a coffin.
Unnerved, Lu Xu quickly ran ahead.
The lights in the classroom are on.
As Lù Xù walked over, the door cracked open, revealing a girl sitting in his usual spot, wearing a blue checkered uniform, her hair falling over her eyes, her body eerily still.
Crunching sounds, footsteps approached from the side, as if someone was coming.
Lù Xù turned his head and saw a figure emerging from the darkness in front of him, with a pallid face, crimson lips, dark brows, swaying unsteadily.
It was a paper figure.
"Are you looking for me?" Suddenly, a voice rushed into Lù Xù's ears, and he saw the girl who had been sitting in the classroom now beside him, lifting her head, hair falling to the sides, revealing two dark eye sockets.
Lù Xù blinked open his eyes, cold sweat dampening his pajamas.
Outside the window, dawn broke, the nightmare lingering like a haze in front of him. Lù Xù rubbed his slightly dizzy head and sat up from the bed.
On bus route 9, Lù Xù saw a girl, Summer, the class monitor he remembered. Yesterday, when he sat in that seat, Summer had come over to advise him.
"Hello," Summer also saw Lù Xù and walked over.
"Hello," Lù Xù nodded.
"Which school were you in before?" Summer asked.
"Namming Third Middle School," Lù Xù replied.
"You're from Three Middle!" Summer exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, I know about that spot," Lù Xù understood why Summer was surprised; the cursed spot at Namming High School was infamous throughout the school.
"Why do you still sit there?" Summer asked curiously.
"Haha, you'll know in the future." Lù Xù didn't want to tell anyone about his agreement with Q.
The bus came to a stop, people got off, and the whole carriage felt less crowded, the previous oppressive atmosphere dissipated.
"Li Qiang was chatting with me on QQ before the incident, then he suddenly went offline. And then the incident happened; some rumors are not baseless." Summer said.
"Oh, are you reminding me?" Lù Xù asked with a smile.
"Anyway, I don't want to see anyone else get into trouble again." Summer didn't speak further and turned away. She didn't know that someone had already met with a mishap.
When Lù Xù and Summer arrived at the classroom door, a group of people crowded around.
Summer grabbed a girl and asked, "What's going on?"
"Someone has died, the curse has appeared again," the classmate whispered.
"What?" Summer hurriedly squeezed in. Lù Xù stood still, tall enough to see over the crowd, and spotted a boy hanging from his usual spot.
He was Ziming Luo.
In his hand, he held a paper figure, its eerie smile directed at the onlookers.
The time of Luo Ziming's death was last night at eleven thirty.
Lu Xu hesitated about whether to tell the police about yesterday's events. He remembered meeting Luo Ziming on the road last night. He claimed he had forgotten his keys, but why was he holding a paper figure? And now, this paper figure was with his body.
The bizarre death, the ghostly paper figure, combined together, formed an invisible web tightly ensnaring Lu Xu's heart.
The police carried away Luo Ziming's body. Lu Xu, under the fearful, puzzled, and perplexed gazes of the onlookers, sat down in his place.
During this class, Lu Xu's mind was in turmoil, perhaps due to the shock of Luo Ziming's death. He constantly felt like someone was watching him, unable to focus on the teacher's words. He recalled his conversation with Q.
Q said, "When I was seven, I first saw her. She was hiding behind her stepmother, eyes filled with fear. At that time, I tightly gripped my toy pig, afraid she would take it away."
Dad said, "You two are sisters from now on, you should take care of each other."
That night, she moved into my room, just setting up a small bed in the corner, but she had entered my world. I teased her everywhere, locking the door while she went to the bathroom, leaving her alone in the living room to cry. Yet, she never blamed me; she even secretly shared the pocket money her stepmother gave her with me.
Later, we went to school together and were placed in the same class. She was introverted and often bullied, and not only did I not help her, but I also joined others in mistreating her. But she never told dad. Until one day, when I was being bullied, she rushed over like a wild beast and was eventually pushed to the ground by those mischievous students.
That was the first time I cried for her, helping her up and wiping the blood from her forehead.
She said, "It's okay, we are sisters."
After junior high school, I went to study in another city, while she stayed to help with the family business. Sometimes we would talk on the phone; she didn't speak much, mostly listening to me. She said she hoped we could get into the same university together.
At that time, her grades were not great, and with the busy family business, she was always taking extra classes at school. We dreamed of the day we would enter the same university together.
But suddenly, one day, I received a call from dad. She was dead.
That night, I returned home and saw her lying on a wooden board, her body stiff, her face pale.
Stepmother cried bitterly, holding her body all night. Dad sat there numbly, tears in his eyes.
She took her own life because of a mistake in an exam, unable to bear the pressure within herself. She had called me on the day she ended her life, but my phone had run out of battery and shut down.
Her name was Liu Min, and she died in Class 4 of Grade 3 at Nanming High School.
This was Q's story; Lu Xu never imagined he would be drawn into this narrative. Q mentioned that after his sister's death, various rumors began circulating at Nanming High School, even the seat his sister once occupied became a cursed spot. Particularly, a year ago, a boy named Li Qiang tried to dispel the curse by boldly sitting in that seat, only to die mysteriously, making the curse even more terrifying.
Lu Xu said, "I don't believe in curses. Perhaps it was just an accident. Your sister was so kind; even if she became a ghost, she wouldn't harm anyone. I am transferring to Nanming High School, I'll prove it to you."
Now, Lu Xu started to feel like the curse wasn't just a baseless rumor. Luo Ziming's death seemed to be signaling something. At that moment, something brushed against Lu Xu's head; when he looked up, he saw a pair of bloodied eyes, unmistakably belonging to Luo Ziming's corpse.
"Ah—" Lu Xu suddenly stood up.
The teacher stopped teaching, and all eyes turned towards him.
"What's wrong, young man?" the teacher asked.
"It's... nothing," Lu Xu regained his composure; that scene just now must have been an illusion.
On bus route 9, Xia Ying sat next to Lu Xu.
"Do you believe in ghosts in this world?" Lu Xu spoke.
Xia Ying remained silent as the bus was crowded, with people pushing and bustling around.
"I felt that kind of horror today," Lu Xu continued.
"Why then did you choose to sit in that spot?" Xia Ying asked.
"Because I promised someone to break a curse. Perhaps, the curse only exists in our minds," Lu Xu sighed. "Last night on my way home, I met Luo Ziming."
Xia Ying still didn't speak, seemingly oblivious to the conversation.
The bus stopped and started, and twenty minutes later, Xia Ying reached her stop.
"Tonight at midnight, our classmates are holding a memorial for Luo Ziming. If you're free, come along," Xia Ying said before getting off the bus.
In Nanking, there's a legend that when someone dies unjustly, friends gather on the same night to hold a memorial in hopes of their swift reincarnation.
Today, classmates are holding a memorial for Luo Ziming, believing he fell victim to a curse. But is the curse real?
Back home, Xia Ying's father had prepared dinner.
"It's almost time for the college entrance exams. Study harder and aim for a good school," her father said as he served soup.
"Today, a classmate of ours passed away," Lu Xu recounted the day's events.
"What happened?" Her father was taken aback.
"I don't know, but several police officers came," Lu Xu explained.
"These kids these days!" Her father didn't say much more, getting up and returning to the bedroom.
Time ticked away slowly, the Q icon on the computer screen still a dull gray. Lu Xu glanced at the time in the bottom right corner—it was already 11:40. He sighed and shut down the computer.
The midnight campus was eerily quiet.
The searchlight on top of the teaching building swung back and forth, casting eerie shadows on the ground. Lu Xu crossed the basketball court and entered the teaching building.
The corridor was silent and pitch black. Lu Xu heard his heart beating vigorously, suddenly recollecting Luo Ziming's visit the previous night. What was he doing here in the classroom late at night? Could he also be here to pay respects?
Lu Xu arrived at the classroom door. A faint light seeped out from within, the glow of candles. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.
No one was in the classroom. Four thick white candles were placed on his desk.
Bang! The door behind him made a noise. As Lu Xu turned around, he felt a rush of wind at the back of his head, followed by a heavy blow to the back of his skull. Then everything went black before he passed out...
Landu slowly opened his eyes and realized he was tied to a seat. In front of him sat a girl in a blue school uniform, her hair falling in front of her eyes.
"Liumin?" Landu gasped, recalling a name.
The girl lifted her head, her hair cascading down, her eyes blood-red, appearing particularly terrifying in the flickering candlelight.
"Xiaoying, is that you?" Landu recognized the person before him.
"I am not Xiaoying, I am Liu Min," the girl said.
"Liu Min is already dead, Xiaoying, what has happened to you?" Landu struggled, but the ropes bound him tightly.
"You were supposed to help me, weren't you? Why are you speaking for her again?" Xiaoying spoke, "Moonlight Boy."
"Are you Q?" Landu was astonished; Moonlight Boy was his online handle.
"Anyone who helps her will die, will die," Xiaoying screamed hysterically.
"You killed Li Qiang, didn't you?" Suddenly, Landu understood.
"Haha, he and you, both really believe curses don't exist? Let me tell you, I have never left. Two years ago, that night, I received a call from my father. Xiaoying and I could only afford one to go to school, and he wanted me to drop out. I disagreed. From childhood to adulthood, Xiaoying has always bullied me, and I have never complained. Mom said we are the later ones, we should yield to others. But why is this so unfair? So, on the night I died, I attached myself to Xiaoying. This body is our shared form. During the day, she is Xiaoying, at night, she is me, Liu Min. Therefore, the curse will never disappear. Everyone who doesn't believe in curses will die. Li Qiang was the first, you are the second," Xiaoying finished, a sinister smile crossing her face.
"I understand now. Li Qiang and I, we were both tricked by you using the identity of Q," Landu spoke.
"Exactly, I cannot just leave this world like this. I want Xiaoying to forever live in my world. Li Qiang thought he was smart, brave, I just sent him a horrifying FLASH, after he watched it, I appeared behind him, I hadn't even touched him, he died on his own."
Landu fell silent, of course, he knew how Li Qiang had died. He could not forget his aunt fainting on seeing Li Qiang's body, nor could he forget her repeated wails.
"Do you know why I was willing to come here?" Landu took a deep breath and spoke.
"You are not..." Xiaoying began.
"No, of course not. Did you really think that story could deceive me? I admit, your story is very moving, but the real reason that drove me here was Li Qiang, because Li Qiang was my cousin. He died here a year ago. I found a QQ email on his computer, then traced the QQ number that sent it, and I added that QQ number using the Moonlight Boy identity."
"After a year of chatting, she and I became good friends, and I heard her story. Following her hints, I came to Nanming High School. Now, I have finally discovered the true cause of my cousin's death."
"Are you trying to deceive me?" Xiaoying's eyes flashed with a vicious glint as she slowly approached Landu.
The door was suddenly burst open, several people rushed in, led by a police officer, followed by Landu's father...
On the night Liu Min passed away, Xia Ying discovered the true reason behind her sister's suicide. That night, she sat by her sister's body, reminiscing about their times together, looking at her sister's photos, and in that moment, she turned into her sister.
This condition is medically known as Dissociative Identity Disorder.
From then on, Xia Ying's body became a collective entity of herself and her sister. She was Xia Ying during the day and Liu Min at night.
To make people believe in her curse, Xia Ying began spreading rumors around school, and to heighten her classmates' fear of the curse, she assumed the persona of Q to deceive Li Qiang into dispelling the curse, then killed him.
The truth of the matter left everyone in sorrow. Especially Xia Ying's parents, who never imagined that after losing one daughter two years ago, their remaining daughter would undergo such a transformation.
Back at home, Lu Xu lay down early on his bed. He had never believed in ghosts, though now he knew the whole truth of the situation, a slight doubt lingered in his heart: Who killed Luo Ziming?
In a daze, he fell asleep.
Then, he had a dream. In the dream, he saw his cousin Li Qiang beside him, gently patting his shoulder, and they walked through dim corridors into a classroom.
Lu Xu saw Luo Ziming standing in his usual spot, softly saying something. Lu Xu then saw himself walk up to Luo Ziming, grab his neck, and exert pressure...
Lu Xu woke up drenched in sweat, finding himself sitting in a classroom, holding a black pendant, Li Qiang's favorite item.
Recalling the previous afternoon at the hospital, Lu Xu remembered the diagnosis the doctor gave Xia Ying:
"Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as Dissociative Disorder. Its primary cause is excessive inner fear and fixation on a particular issue, leading to the formation of a subconscious individual."
Originally posted 2024-04-08 14:50:07.