They All Say I Encountered A Ghost Chapter 42

Translator's Note: Hi, everyone! This is the last chapter of the main novel. There are still five extras to go. Thank you for your kind comments throughout!

My students seemed to have their own information network. They already knew that I had found out the truth. For this cla.s.s, everyone was dressed especially dramatically, hair a mess, faces grimy, dripping with blood, not at all as cute as before.

The lights in the Fourth Cla.s.s, Third Year cla.s.sroom were bright, and the impact of twenty fierce ghosts was powerful. When I walked into the room, I backed up and looked at the doorplate again to make sure that I hadn't gone into the wrong cla.s.sroom. For a moment I thought I'd walked onto a film set by mistake.

Mu Huaitong and Duan Youlian had graduated early. The front row was empty. To my left there was a student missing half his head, holding his eyes, which had fallen out, in his hands. He seemed to be using them to look at me.

"Ahem." I was little nervous. I cleared my throat, and then began in a soft voice: "h.e.l.lo, students. I'm really ashamed. We've been acquainted for some time now, but I've only just now found out your true ident.i.ties. I've fallen somewhat short in my duties. Let's get to know each other again. My name is Shen Jianguo, a newly graduated teacher at my first job. I'm nervous about leading a cla.s.s for the first time. No matter what your ident.i.ties are, to me, you're the first group of students I've taught, and the most difficult for me to forget. Now I'll call roll."

After calling the twenty students one by one, I wrote the words "how to establish a correct world view" on the blackboard. "You must all have heard from Princ.i.p.al Zhang that this is our last cla.s.s. The key task is to help you all graduate. But I still think that whether you're humans or ghosts, everything has to be done well from start to finish. I still have to finish teaching this lesson about establishing a world view.

"Now I'll talk about the most important point. You have to have the ability to determine right from wrong."

This wasn't a very good topic to lecture about. Countless philosophers in history have spent their lives discussing good and evil without finding an answer that suited everyone. Naturally I also couldn't say anything very concrete.

What I could tell everyone was that it was enough to maintain an honest heart and never be ashamed of it.

After lecturing for over an hour, I said to the students, "You may be thinking, now that I know you're ghosts, why am I still talking about world view? Isn't talking to ghosts about worldview the ravings of a lunatic? But after my recent experiences, I believe that the boundary between humans and ghosts isn't actually life and death. There are some people who are just like evil ghosts, even though they're alive. They can only do harm to people's lives and property. Some people's spirit will still remain in the hearts of the living after they die.

"Teacher Liu and Ning-tianshi have told me that when you take Qi-dage's bus and cross the Naihe Bridge, you'll forget everything about your past lives. The things I'm telling you about now, you also won't remember. But I believe that even if the memory won't remain, there are still some things engraved on the soul that can't be forgotten."

After I finished, I took out a stack of graduation intention questionnaires and gave one to each student.

"This form gives you a number of choices: transcend, continue to attend cla.s.s, or become a civil servant of Difu. Those students choosing to transcend, please pick up the reincarnation scripture on your table. You will recite it under the leadership of language teacher Liu Sishun until you have transcended. If you choose to become a civil servant of Difu, I will investigate Difu's job offerings and burn the materials for you. If you want to stay to attend cla.s.ses, when we've finished tonight, Ning-tianshi will take you to the Maoshan Sect, and I will continue to teach you."

As soon as I stopped speaking, all the students as one picked up the copies of the reincarnation scripture and began to recite. There was one student who didn't even have hands and still firmly picked up the scripture with his mouth.

"It seems that everyone's hearts are firmly set on graduating. Then let's invite Teacher Liu to the lectern to lead the reading."

I stepped off the lectern. Teacher Liu straightened his gray Zhongshan suit, pulled out a comb from somewhere and combed his hair. Then he picked up the notebook he had just finished writing in and mounted the lectern.

I sat beside Xiao Ning, listening to everyone reciting the scripture. Very soon I began to doze off. As soon as my head went down, Xiao Ning pushed me awake. We had arranged this in advance; I definitely couldn't sleep during the last cla.s.s.

They kept reading until two in the morning. When the driver arrived punctually at the school gates to pick me up, Teacher Liu led each of the students onto the bus.

Not one of the twenty students was left behind. They sat in their seats, quietly looking at me through the windows.

"The next stop on this bus is the Naihe Bridge," said the driver. "No living people on the bus."

Xiao Ning and I stood next to the bus, watching Teacher Liu board last of all, waving to us.

"I've had no business for over a month, and finally I'm doing business again," said the driver, waving at me with a gesture like swatting a fly. "In the future, you can stay away from ghost buses."

The doors closed, a fog came up, and the bus with the license plate number 444 gradually disappeared into the fog, leaving Xiao Ning and me staring after it.

My phone alert sounded. It was a message from Princ.i.p.al Zhang: Your salary and bonus have been transferred to your account. Our employment relationship is now terminated.

I stared at the notice of 420,000 yuan entering my account, but I didn't feel happy.

Princ.i.p.al Zhang sent another message: Thank you. Also, remember to come to my funeral in a couple of days.

Xiao Ning calculated on his fingers. "Princ.i.p.al Zhang's lifespan has come to an end. The next ghost to ride that bus will probably be her. But you can rest a.s.sured, with her merit, she'll certainly be reborn soon. She'll be a good person again, with a happy life."

"I know," I said a little sadly. "But this is my first job after graduation. I only had this one colleague who was human, and now she soon won't be, either."

"There will be new colleagues," Xiao Ning said.

"But I have to find a new job, and you'll definitely inherit the Maoshan Sect later." I suddenly thought of something. "We only just got into a relationship. Are we going to have to do long-distance? That's too dire!"

I'd just had my first kiss yesterday.

"It doesn't have to be long distance," Xiao Ning said, touching his chin. "In fact, our Maoshan Sect has always kept pace with the spirit of the times, doing whatever was done during each period. For example, more of our income comes from our scenic spot now than from exorcising ghosts. That's also progress."

I didn't understand what he meant. I only knew that Xiao Ning might have a way to solve the long-distance problem, so I stared at him eagerly.

Xiao Ning said solemnly, "As the Sect Leader's Chief Disciple and the future Sect Leader of the Maoshan Sect, I have always been deeply concerned for the political literacy of the Maoshan Sect's disciples. Young people these days are too flighty. Sometimes when they see a ghost, they scream even louder than the victims of the haunting. Taking them out really is a little humiliating. We urgently need a political teacher who knows the internal situation, isn't afraid of ghosts, has excellent theoretical knowledge, and has a postgraduate degree or better, to teach them to arm themselves with thoughts in line with the current of the times, and foster a heart that is just and firm, fearing neither ghosts nor G.o.ds."

Eh? Somehow it seemed that the requirements Xiao Ning had mentioned... fit me perfectly!

"How much is the monthly salary?" I asked immediately.

"Our Maoshan school is a large-scale private enterprise. From the Sect Leader down to the temporary workers on the scenic site, there are several hundred people. The salary should be in line with that of a large enterprise. How about a base salary of 10,000 yuan, including food and accommodation, and a commission according to the number of people who complete their training?"

"Do Sect Leader Ning and the Maoshan Sect elders agree?"

"With transcending twenty-one fierce ghosts at once on your record, is there anyone who wouldn't agree?" Xiao Ning looked at me and smiled. "Now it seems that all that's missing is a resume."

"I have a resume on my laptop. Tell me the e-mail address and I'll go send it right away!" I pulled my laptop out of my bag.

"There's another difficulty."

"Whatever difficulty there is, I can overcome it!" My head was full of ten-thousand a month.

Xiao Ning pointed to the band-aid on his face and said, "The head of human resources, Ning Tiance, wants to abuse his power for personal gain and pursue the new political teacher. If Teacher Shen doesn't agree, he may experience some degree of hara.s.sment at work in the future."

I kissed Xiao Ning on his band-aid and said, "Teacher Shen agrees!"

"Then go print out the resume and put it in a file. I've completed my a.s.signment and can formally become a Celestial Master. After attending Princ.i.p.al Zhang's funeral, we'll take the resume to the Maoshan Sect. I'll go get train tickets."

"Absolutely no hard seats!"

I grabbed Xiao Ning's hand before he could book tickets, lacing our fingers together. "You can't book train tickets at night. We'll take bikeshares back to the hotel now, and tomorrow morning we'll get plane tickets, OK? I'll pay my own way."

Just think of it: I had hundreds of thousands in my account now, as well as a handsome boyfriend who was responsible for a large-scale national tourist area. My future was limitless.

I had really ascended to the peak of life.

END