One human and one ghost left the teaching block and split like two leaves caught by different currents.

Xuduo had worked all day and sagged like a wilted lotus, so she went back to the dorm to sleep and sharpen her blade for nightfall.

To be honest, Nana Toki still couldn’t see through the fog around that boy on the Soul Carriage, or why he was chained to that rolling coffin.

She’d heard the Soul Carriage belonged to the master of this ghost school, a black boat on his lake, so the boy being left there meant the two escapees still faced the knife.

But if the master could kill those two like snuffing candles, why keep the boy pinned to the Carriage like a butterfly on cork?

He was a ghost‑keeper, a farmer of shadows, so why not bend the two students who knew his secret like reeds before wind?

To Nana Toki, his moves looked deliberate, like bait on a silver hook, a chess piece offered to lure us onto his board for some other harvest.

And after stepping off the Soul Carriage, one more thorn stuck in Nana Toki’s mind like a splinter under nail.

Right before the boy on the Carriage vanished, he’d said a ghost recalls all human memories at the lip of death, like a river bursting its dam.

Was that a lantern‑hint in the mist, a thread pulled on purpose?

Her brain tied itself in knots like tangled fishing line, and she couldn’t make heads or tails.

Old riddles had just cracked like ice, and new ones fell like rain, crowding her skull with moths to a lamp.

The System in her head stayed silent like a shut temple bell, so Nana Toki stood still and doubted life under a cold eave.

All in all, she’d go check the old campus tonight, because every whisper in the new campus pointed back like shadows to the old walls.

After seeing the heroine off like a boat at dusk, Nana Toki texted Xiaoxiao Ji, who’d just finished morning assembly and was resting in her dorm like a cat in sun.

She had asked the Protagonist Lord to watch that little airhead, but worry still gnawed like a rat, and the peace report let the stone in her chest drop.

Stay in your room and don’t wander, I’m coming over now, she sent, words like warm tea.

She asked if anything strange happened while Xiaoxiao was with the Protagonist Lord, then drifted toward Xiaoxiao’s new dorm like wind through bamboo.

Her new dorm was Building Seven, close as a sparrow’s hop from the teaching block, easy to spot like a lantern at night.

Nana Toki slipped through the fourth‑floor railing like mist and floated into Xiaoxiao’s room, where a girl plastered in Talismans sat on a bed like a paper effigy.

Nana Toki paused, blank as snow; had this girl stayed wrapped like this since yesterday, like a dumpling in paper?

She scanned the dorm and found more of her Talismans tucked in corners like yellow leaves hiding under stones.

So cautious, like a fawn in frost; without me beside her, was she that afraid, like a sparrow at thunder?

Seeing Xiaoxiao hadn’t noticed, Nana Toki blocked her angle like a folding fan and drifted in from behind.

Hey, what are you doing, you—Sudden pop‑up.

Ah—! Sister Ling Jiang, you scared me to death, who doesn’t come in by the front door, like a normal person!

A sudden tap on the shoulder struck like a drum, and Xiaoxiao screamed, almost rolling out like a rabbit bolting, until Nana Toki caught her hand.

I’m a ghost, I go where wind goes, so any way in is fine, Nana Toki said, eyeing the trembling chick, then added, And you, has your courage grown at all?

When will my hidden quest clear, she sighed inside, like a reed flute in night wind.

W‑well, maybe it’s a little better, like a candle with one more inch, Xiaoxiao said, voice unsure as a shaking leaf.

We’ve got time to grow, like spring bamboo, so don’t lose heart, Nana Toki offered, a feather‑light balm.

But Xiaoxiao wanted none of that sugar, wishing the big sister ghost would spare her like rain sparing silk.

By the way, Sister Ling Jiang, why were you and Xuduo gone all day chasing the Soul Carriage, like cranes chasing clouds?

I thought you ran into trouble and worried myself sore, she said, room quiet as a well with only one girl and one ghost inside.

Ah… about that, I should say this first, Nana Toki replied, her gaze steady like a drawn bow.

W‑what is it, she asked, nerves fluttering like a moth, feeling a big wave about to break.

The Red Robed Wraith we met in the old campus links to the boy on the Soul Carriage, that guess was right, but deeper roots twist below.

So I’m heading back to the old campus tonight to probe the ground, like tapping a bridge in fog.

Huh… Xiaoxiao blinked, lost like a deer in reeds.

I mean you don’t need to join tonight, just rest in the dorm like a pebble under warm cloth.

Eh? she breathed, heart sinking like a stone in still water.

This plane holds too many unknown teeth, so dragging Xiaoxiao along felt like walking a lamb into a thicket, and Nana Toki chose steadiness like a tied boat.

But… Xiaoxiao’s protest was a thin reed in wind.

You don’t want to be jump‑scared by something nasty, right, Nana Toki said, eyes earnest as a prayer, so take a short holiday, and end your ghost‑school trial here.

But… why does my chest feel hollow, like a temple bell with no clapper?

Xiaoxiao lowered her head and watched her hands on her lap like two shells, and she murmured, If I’m with Sister Ling Jiang… being scared isn’t that big a deal.

Her voice was soft as falling ash, and the room was pin‑drop quiet, so even pretending not to hear felt impossible.

You’ve seen the old campus more than once, and it’s knife‑edge dangerous, so what if you lost your life there, she said, face grave as stone.

Nana Toki hadn’t lived the arc where Nesting Phoenix died, and if Xiaoxiao vanished like smoke, what then, like a bridge cut midstream?

But without you, sitting alone is tasteless, like cold porridge, Xiaoxiao whispered, eyes shining like wet ink.

Somehow, Nana Toki already filled a wide space in Xiaoxiao’s heart, like moonlight filling a courtyard; a month felt like a thousand shared nights.

Are you stupid, Nana Toki said, giving her a side‑eye like a flicked fan.

Be good and listen, stay in the dorm tonight, she added, tapping the Talismans, and unless you meet the Red Robed Wraith, you’ll be fine as a sealed jar.

She rubbed Xiaoxiao’s head, a gentle head‑pat like snow on pine, and said, I’ll keep you company till night and then go, so rest easy.

I don’t want to be apart that long again, Xiaoxiao breathed, feeling the cool touch like river water; sometimes a day is long as winter.

Sleep, and when you wake, you’ll see me, Nana Toki said, palm brushing Xiaoxiao’s cheek like silk, eyes warm as lantern light.

Then pinky promise, you must come back safe, Xiaoxiao said, sticking out her little finger like a hooked moon.

The familiar gesture struck like a bell, and after a blink of surprise, Nana Toki nodded like a willow in wind.

Okay, I promise, she said, sealing it like a knot in red thread.

Deep night fell like ink.

After soothing Xiaoxiao once more, Nana Toki left Building Seven and met Lu Ming and Xuduo under a big tree by the teaching block, moonlight sifting like frost.

Got the picture, she asked, floating closer only after checking the grove held just two humans and one ghost, like counting beads.

Heard it all from Xuduo, Lu Ming said, but are you sure the Soul Carriage ghost links to the Red Robed Wraith in the old campus?

It feels off, like a crooked shadow; if the ghost school’s master is a ghost‑keeper, he can refine obsessions like boiling bones, so why lock the boy in the Carriage?

You’re worried about what I’m worried about, she said, but the only way to clear this is to find that Red Robed Wraith in the old campus, like hunting the snake’s seven inches.

Enough talk, she added, let’s finish this and leave this ghost pit, like breaking out at dawn.

They didn’t waste time on plans, and the trio headed straight for the old campus, cutting through the outer forest like knives through bamboo.

Near the goal, Nana Toki recalled last night’s warning from the Red Robed Wraith, a red flag fluttering near those old walls like blood in snow.

For safety, she stopped Lu Ming and Xuduo and handed each a yellow Talisman, paper gold like dried ginkgo leaves.

She hadn’t wanted to, thinking male lead and female lead had their own cheats, but memory stung like salt—Lu Ming almost fell to the Soul Carriage, and Xuduo brushed death.

She might not hold the upper hand alone against what nests in the old campus, and she knew the truth like a proverb: many hands make a rope strong.