Chapter 50: Witchcraft Curse — The Paper Doll
“Su Keke, I’m talking to you!” Jiang Yueyue snapped irritably.
Su Keke lowered her head even more. Her uncle had personally sent her to this school—there was no way she was leaving. Even if she had to shamelessly cling on, she would stay.
Qin Xing sneered. “Whether she stays or not isn’t up to you.”
Thinking of what she’d seen at the school gate the evening before, Qin Xing fell briefly into thought.
She hadn’t seen Fourth Uncle himself, but she had seen Wu Zongbai, the assistant her fourth uncle trusted most. Even though she didn’t know exactly what Su Keke’s relationship with her fourth uncle was, there was one thing Qin Xing was sure of—
Su Keke was indeed Fourth Uncle’s person.
But even without Fourth Uncle, she would still treat Su Keke as a friend. And anyone Qin Xing considered a friend—so long as she was around—would not be allowed to be bullied.
Jiang Yueyue glared at Qin Xing and ground her teeth. “Qin Xing, then let’s just wait and see!”
Someone still reading elementary school textbooks wanted to score above the class average? What a joke!
Qin Xing curled her lips. “Fine, let’s wait and see. Just hope you can afford to lose—when the time comes, apologize to Su Keke in front of the whole class.”
Su Keke lifted her head to glance at the two of them, then lowered it again.
She felt a little guilty. She hadn’t expected to become the fuse that set off another argument between them.
But being protected like this by Qin Xing and Luo Man made her very happy.
She made up her mind—she would definitely study hard. She wouldn’t embarrass her uncle, and she wouldn’t embarrass her good friends either!
It didn’t matter if she couldn’t understand things yet. Hehe—she had a good memory. She could memorize everything first.
Su Keke buried her head and continued reading.
Gradually, she became completely absorbed in the elementary school textbooks. She read very fast—by the end of the morning, she had finished the Chinese and math textbooks from grades one to three. She had also memorized all twenty-six English letters and written out two hundred English words from memory, even though she still didn’t know how to pronounce them.
At noon, the Four Golden Flowers ate together.
As they complained about Jiang Yueyue’s idiocy, Qin Xing and the others also cheered Su Keke on.
“Don’t worry, Keke. With Luo Man, the top student, here, you’ll definitely be fine.”
Su Keke nodded hard, brimming with confidence. “Even if I have to memorize everything, I’ll do it!”
Zhao Kexin couldn’t help laughing. “Chinese and English are one thing, but how are you supposed to memorize math, physics, and chemistry?”
Luo Man lowered her gaze and thought for a moment, then said, “Keke, the mock exams are coming up soon. With your weak foundation, there’s no time to explain principles anymore. If you really can memorize things, I’ll mark out the key points for each subject. You memorize those. For physics and math, the question types are actually quite limited—if you remember a few classic examples, you can apply them by analogy elsewhere…”
Su Keke looked at her with starry eyes and nodded vigorously. “Okay! Thank you, Manman.”
“Manman, me too, me too! You can’t play favorites,” Qin Xing immediately said shamelessly.
Zhao Kexin leaned in as well. “If it’s convenient, can I join too?”
Key points marked by the top student—that was prime material.
“Sure,” Luo Man smiled.
With all those affectionate Manmans being called out, how could she refuse?
“Alright, ladies, I’m off first.” After finishing her meal, Zhao Kexin headed to the library to continue revising.
“She sure ran fast. Looks like she won’t have time to join our little activity,” Qin Xing said, then exchanged a tacit glance with Luo Man.
“Keke, did you bring the stuff for removing the curse you mentioned yesterday?” Qin Xing asked in a lowered voice.
Su Keke swallowed her last bite of food, her eyes and lips curving together into a smile. “I brought it. It’s in my backpack.”
Noon was the quietest time of day. There were only three or five students in the classroom, heads down solving problems.
The three of them tiptoed to the last row of the classroom and formed a circle around that desk, blocking any prying eyes.
Su Keke first took out a small bag of glutinous rice from her backpack, then cinnabar and a calligraphy brush.
She reached into the bag of rice and rubbed her hands with it. Then she slid both hands into the desk drawer and began feeling around inside.
After a while, her hands suddenly paused. When she pulled them out, there was a tiny… paper doll resting in her palm.
Qin Xing’s eyes instantly widened.
Holy crap—this was seriously mystical!
Su Keke flipped the paper doll over.
On the back of it was a small black character: 穢 (filth).
She muttered softly, “Stuck in the crack of the desk—made it easy to find.”
Both of them were stunned by the scene.
Su Keke said it was stuck there, but Qin Xing and Luo Man couldn’t find any trace of glue or double-sided tape on the paper doll. They had no idea how it had been attached.
And the paper itself didn’t look newly cut—it looked rather old.
“Keke, is this what you meant by the witchcraft curse?” Qin Xing asked.
“And why is there a ‘filth’ character written on it?” Luo Man asked curiously.
“This really is the witchcraft curse I mentioned yesterday. Usually, only people from the Gu-witchcraft sect would use this kind of curse. Filth represents unclean things. Folk belief says you shouldn’t step on manhole covers—while that may sound exaggerated, it’s not without reason. Manhole covers marked with ‘filth’ indicate sewage below, heavy with foul qi. When people step on them, that foul qi can easily enter the body.
“This ‘filth’ character on the paper doll is the trigger for the curse. It causes the surrounding foul energy to continuously gather here. If someone stays in this environment for a long time, they’d be lucky not to fall ill.”
Su Keke usually gave off the impression of a cute, sweet girl next door. But once it involved her profession, her face tightened with seriousness.
No matter how serious she tried to look, though, she still had chubby baby cheeks.
The difference was simply this: before, it was a sweet bun face; now, it was a stern bun face.
As she spoke, Su Keke dipped the brush in cinnabar and drew a big red X over the filth character on the paper doll.
“Can’t you just tear it off directly?” Qin Xing frowned.
“No, that won’t do. There are rules to this,” Su Keke said, tucking the paper doll into her pocket. “Let’s find a place with no people. I need to dispose of it properly.”
The campus was huge, with plenty of secluded spots. Qin Xing, who knew the campus best, led Su Keke to a hidden corner.
Su Keke took out a large, uncut sheet of yellow talisman paper from her bag and folded it into a neat square box. Then she took a sip of water, didn’t swallow it, puffed out her cheeks, and sprayed it back out.
Normally, water would spray out as droplets and soak the paper box—but what came from Su Keke’s mouth was a fine mist.
The two beside her watched intently. Luo Man wasn’t particularly curious by nature, but she still couldn’t help asking, “Keke, what does that mean?”
Su Keke grinned. “That’s called awakening the spirit. There are many ways to do it—this is just one.”
Even Luo Man, the top student, couldn’t understand things like awakening the spirit, so she didn’t ask further.
For outsiders, the more you asked, the more you wouldn’t understand—and the more awkward it would get.
They watched as Su Keke actually struck a… match.
After lighting the paper doll, she tossed it together with the match into the paper box.
As the flames engulfed the paper doll, the red fire suddenly turned into an eerie… ghostly green.
