Phantom Skeleton Painting

Chapter 56.2 Dream

Leave? Why should they leave? Lin Banxia thought to himself. He pressed the phone screen again, but it could no longer be opened. It seemed that the phone was out of battery. In desperation, he had to go back to the dormitory first.

In the dormitory, other students were already reviewing under the desk lamp.

Lin Banxia also turned on his desk lamp, but for some reason, he, who usually studied very efficiently, was distracted today. He couldn’t read the book. He felt that something was not right. The whole incident was full of a sense of dissonance.

However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.

Lin Banxia barely slept that night. He seemed to have had many dreams, but when he woke up, he couldn’t remember anything.

It was six o’clock in the morning when the alarm clock rang. Lin Banxia got up in a hurry, had a simple breakfast and went to the classroom. He went to the classroom and put away his schoolbag, then went to the Student Management Office on the fifth floor, wanting to hand over the phone quickly. Unexpectedly, when he got to the door, he remembered that the teacher from the Student Management Office would not come until eight o’clock. Looking at the closed door, he suddenly felt a little dazed. When he walked back with his head lowered, he bumped into someone. Lin Banxia apologized quickly. When he looked up, he found that the person he bumped into was actually the person mentioned by Li Su yesterday, Song Qingluo.

Song Qingluo looked at him expressionlessly and said softly: “Be careful.”

Lin Banxia said: “Hmm… I’m sorry.” He felt that the way Song Qingluo looked at him was a bit strange, so he looked away uncomfortably and turned sideways to leave.

However, as soon as he took a step, his arm was grabbed by someone. The person who grabbed him was so strong that Lin Banxia even hissed involuntarily. He turned around and saw that Song Qingluo had grabbed him. When he heard him scream, his strength suddenly relaxed a little.

Song Qingluo said: “What are you doing here?”

Lin Banxia said: “I have something I want to hand over, but I didn’t expect the door to be still be closed.”

“Oh.” Song Qingluo responded, not intending to let go, and still restrained Lin Banxia, ​​”What is it?”

“A mobile phone.” Lin Banxia took out the mobile phone from his pocket, “A classmate picked it up under the teaching building when school was over yesterday.”

Song Qingluo saw the mobile phone in Lin Banxia’s hand. It was a beautiful flip phone. Lin Banxia held it closed. He lowered his eyes slightly and said, “Oh.”

Lin Banxia didn’t know what the word “oh” meant and was a little stunned. Unexpectedly, Song Qingluo grabbed his hand and pulled him two steps forward. Then he took out a key from his pocket and opened the door of the Student Management Office. Seeing that Lin Banxia was very surprised, he explained calmly: “Sometimes I come to help the teacher.”

Lin Banxia cast an admiring look at him.

“Which teaching building did you pick it up from?” Song Qingluo asked.

“It’s the building where the accident happened yesterday.” Lin Banxia put the phone on the table, hesitating a little, not sure whether he should tell him about the phone call he received later.

Song Qingluo picked up the phone and looked at it. The screen of the phone that could not be unlocked yesterday actually turned on again. Song Qingluo looked at the phone, as if he wanted to find clues about the owner from it, but he only glanced at it a few times, then his brows wrinkled, and his expression was a bit wrong.

Lin Banxia thought the phone was broken and quickly explained: “I didn’t touch it; I just answered a call.”

Song Qingluo said: “It’s not your fault.”

“What happened?” Lin Banxia was inexplicably panicked. This phone looked very expensive. If it was really broken, how could he afford to pay for it?

“This mobile phone…” Song Qingluo said, “It shouldn’t be here.”

Lin Banxia was at a loss.

“It belongs to Qin Xu.” Song Qingluo said, “Do you know Qin Xu?”

It was an unfamiliar name, so Lin Banxia naturally didn’t recognize it, so he shook his head.

“That’s the person who jumped off the building yesterday.” Song Qingluo closed the phone, “His name is Qin Xu, and this is his phone.”

Lin Banxia was dumbfounded: “He… didn’t he bring his mobile phone with him when he jumped off the building?”

Song Qingluo glanced at him: “I guess he brought it.”

Lin Banxia said: “Then, what’s going on?”

Song Qingluo thought for a while: “Who gave you the phone? Do you still remember what that person looks like?”

Lin Banxia carefully recalled the person who gave him the phone yesterday. It was too dark at the time, so he didn’t really notice. Now that he thought about it, the person was a bit strange. After giving him the phone, he disappeared. Lin Banxia was a little restless. He felt as if he’d encountered something he shouldn’t have.

After listening to his description, Song Qingluo was silent for a long time. Just when Lin Banxia felt that he could no longer hold on and wanted to ask questions, Song Qingluo lowered his head, rummaged through his phone for a moment, and then handed over a photo. In front of Lin Banxia, ​​he said: “Is he this person?”

Lin Banxia glanced at it and nodded quickly: “Yes, yes, that’s him.”

Song Qingluo: “…”

“What’s wrong?” Lin Banxia was frightened by his expression, “Why do you look like this?”

Song Qingluo said: “This is Qin Xu.”

Lin Banxia: “…”

A long silence spread between the two of them. Lin Banxia’s mouth was dry, and he didn’t know what to say for a while. He thought of the phone call he received later. It seemed like someone had fallen from a high place. Now that he thought about it, that person must be…Qin Xu. The more he thought about it, the more unbelievable it became. It was the first time Lin Banxia encountered such a thing that was beyond his cognitive scope, and he suddenly panicked.

Song Qingluo seemed very calm, he said: “You should go back first, you have to start early self-study.”

Lin Banxia took a look and realized that he and Song Qingluo had been chatting for half an hour, so he stood up and left.

“Lin Banxia.” Song Qingluo said, “If you need anything, you can come to me directly.”

Lin Banxia said yes repeatedly, his heart full of gratitude to Song Qingluo. He felt that although this person had a cold expression and a distant temperament, he was unexpectedly very considerate. Maybe it was because other people did not dare to approach him and treated him badly that a misunderstanding occurred. However, after he arrived at the class happily, he suddenly remembered something and froze in his seat. When he was talking to Song Qingluo just now, he did not introduce his name from beginning to end. That Song Qingluo… how could he know his name? Did he directly call out the name Lin Banxia?

Lin Banxia suddenly felt that Song Qingluo seemed… really strange.

Lin Banxia was a little distracted that morning because of the cell phone.

After finally getting through the lunch break, the students would lie down on the table to rest for half an hour, and Lin Banxia was no exception, but as soon as he lay down, he was harassed by Li Su. Li Su had been extremely interested in him recently, as if he had discovered some interesting toy. He sat next to him and told him a few more ghost stories. Lin Banxia just listened and had no reaction. He thought that the story Li Su told was not as scary as what he encountered himself.

Li Su didn’t get the reaction he wanted. He looked at Lin Banxia harshly and said disgustedly, “Lin Banxia, ​​can’t you give me a reaction?”

Lin Banxia said helplessly: “Can you let me go?”

“No.” Li Su said, “Everyone in this classroom is so boring. You are the only one who is more interesting.”

Lin Banxia said: “Tell me what’s interesting about me, can’t I change it?”

Li Su couldn’t help laughing. This Lin Banxia looked thin and small, wearing a large and ill-fitting school uniform, and had a handsome face that was harmless to humans and animals. No matter how you looked at it, he was the kind of obedient student who was easy to bully. He probably had not kept up with his nutrition. The reason was that his hair color was much lighter than that of most people, and it was browner, which made all the female classmates who couldn’t dye their hair envious. Lin Banxia didn’t know, but Li Su knew very well that his classmate also had many admirers in the class, but it was a pity that Lin Banxia didn’t know about it and only knew how to study every day.

Li Su was mumbling beside him, but Lin Banxia remembered Song Qingluo. He felt that Li Su might know something about Song Qingluo, so he tentatively asked a few questions about Song Qingluo.

Li Su seemed to be a little afraid of Song Qingluo, saying that this person was very troublesome and told Lin Banxia not to mess with him.

Lin Banxia asked curiously: “Why is he trouble?”

Li Suya said: “Don’t look at him acting like a good student, he is even worse than me. If you offend him, it won’t be something that can be solved with a beating.”

Lin Banxia thought that he might have warned him too late. Although he didn’t know what happened, Song Qingluo seemed to have noticed him and even knew his name.

Li Su was talking when his phone suddenly vibrated. He opened it and looked at it. It was a message. After reading it, he stopped pestering Lin Banxia. He stood up and left early.

Lin Banxia was eager for him to leave and watched Li Su walking towards the door. There was a tall figure standing by the door outside. He seemed to be Li Su’s friend, a foreigner who came to study from abroad.

Lin Banxia saw him going out and then turned back.

The afternoon class was long and tiring. Lin Banxia didn’t eat much at noon and was already hungry, so after class, he went to the cafeteria to eat something and then returned to the classroom. However, as soon as he came back, he felt something was wrong with the expressions of his classmates when he walked into the classroom. While he was thinking about what was wrong, his desk-mate reached out and poked him, whispering: “Someone is looking for you.”

Lin Banxia said: “Who?”

The desk-mate said: “That Song Qingluo…when did you get to know him?”

Lin Banxia said dryly: “This morning.”

His desk-mate said, “Are you kidding? This morning? I see that he seems to be familiar with you, so I told him I’d get you to call him back when you get back.”

Lin Banxia said: “I don’t have a mobile phone.”

The desk-mate said enthusiastically: “It’s okay, it’s okay, use mine!” He handed the phone to Lin Banxia and gave him a piece of paper with Song Qingluo’s phone number written on it.

Lin Banxia hesitated for a moment and finally called Song Qingluo back. Song Qingluo answered quickly and told him to go to the fifth floor to find him. Lin Banxia was a little hesitant at first, but Song Qingluo’s tone was firm, as if there was something important, and he hung up the phone without giving him much time to ask questions.

In desperation, Lin Banxia had to return the phone to his desk-mate and planned to go to the fifth floor to see him. As soon as the phone was handed over, Lin Banxia suddenly asked: “Do I often use your phone?”

“No.” His desk-mate said, “Why would you use my phone?”

Lin Banxia said: “Yes, what should I use your mobile phone for?”

The tablemate looked confused and didn’t understand what Lin Banxia was talking about. Lin Banxia stood up from his seat without explaining. At this time, he finally found out what the sense of discordance that had been bothering him yesterday was.

Because he didn’t buy it himself, and he almost never communicated with other people on mobile phones, this thing should have been unfamiliar to Lin Banxia. He had no access to it and no memory of using it, but whether he picked up the mobile phone yesterday to answer the call or to make a call to Song Qingluo today, Lin Banxia seemed to be familiar with this small object – as if he had used it countless times.

Lin Banxia was silent along the way. He had many conjectures in his mind, but none of them could explain what happened to him.

Before Lin Banxia could figure out the answer, he had already reached the fifth floor. The fifth floor was not a teaching floor, it mostly contained teachers’ offices. Lin Banxia walked forward for a while and saw Song Qingluo at the end of the balcony.

Song Qingluo was leaning on the edge of the balcony, seemingly playing with his mobile phone with his head down. He was obviously wearing a school uniform, but he insisted on wearing it to look different. Lin Banxia lowered his head and saw his ill-fitting sneakers and loose trouser legs. He tugged at the corner of his clothes, trying to get rid of the inferiority complex in his heart.

After Song Qingluo heard Lin Banxia’s footsteps, he put away his phone and looked at him. Lin Banxia was much shorter than him. He looked thin and small. He was obviously already in high school, but still looked like a child in junior high school. Song Qingluo watched him walk up to him, raise his head cautiously, and ask, “What’s the matter?”

It was obviously just a normal conversation, but Song Qingluo had an inexplicable illusion that he was bullying this child. He pursed his lips in an unpleasant arc and said lightly: “Can’t I come to you if I have nothing to do?”

Lin Banxia: “No, no, I still have to study in the evening.”

Song Qingluo said: “You encountered something like that yesterday, and yet you have nothing to say and aren’t curious at all?”

Lin Banxia said: “There seems to be something wrong, but what can we do?”

Song Qingluo leaned close to Lin Banxia’s face, his lips almost touching the tip of Lin Banxia’s ear. His voice was as soft as a gust of wind, and his hot breath made Lin Banxia shrink his neck. Song Qingluo said: “I, I saw the call record. You actually answered a call, right? Aren’t you curious who called you? ”

Lin Banxia said: “Who is it…?”

Song Qingluo said: “That’s Qin Xu’s phone number.”

Lin Banxia was stunned.

“So, why did he call you? In other words, what did he say to you on this phone call?” Song Qingluo lowered his eyes and saw Lin Banxia’s cute ear. It was red, whether due to nervousness or itching, and trembled slightly from time to time, which looked particularly delicious. Nevertheless, he knew that now was not the right time, so he suppressed the inexplicable impulse and just curled the corner of his mouth slightly to show his dissatisfaction.

Lin Banxia was completely unaware of the change in Song Qingluo’s expression. He felt that he and Song Qingluo were too close and wanted to take a step back, but there was a wall behind him. He answered Song Qingluo’s question with difficulty: “He, he said four words to me.”

Song Qingluo said: “What?”

“Get out of here.” Lin Banxia said.

Song Qingluo said: “That’s it? Nothing else?”

“No.” Lin Banxia said, “I don’t know what it means, and when he called me, he should have been… dead.”

Why could a dead person still make this call?

What did it mean to leave here?

Both fell into silence at the same time.

The author has something to say:

Song Qingluo: In which stage of your life do you most want me to appear?

Lin Banxia: When you need to collect the down payment to buy a house?

Song Qingluo:……

 

 

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