The Restless Spirit's Father

His head then turned to the direction of the other bunk bed, Xu Disung snoring under his covers. Liu Xiaodan moved gently to keep the child from waking, finding Ruan Jin"s computer open. The chair was pulled back with quite a large gap from the desk. He slowly slid Liu Guangru to the side to join his black horse he called Liu Heima, an addition to the ghost family. Liu Xiaodan sat up and saw one of his bros sleeping on the floor, probably pa.s.sing out in front of the computer. He gently got off the bed and walked towards Ruan Jin, his gaze straying towards Wen Taio"s bed which had been made already. Only a few things could wake up that man so early on a weekend.

"Hey, Jin. Jin, wake up," Liu Xiaodan whispered as he shook the man who roused like a lost sheep, bleating in confusion. "You"re on the floor. Sleep on your bed."

"I"ll just..." Ruan Jin yawned loudly and scratched as he managed to pick himself up. However, instead of going to his bed, he chose to send himself down on Liu Xiaodan"s bed and dozed immediately.

Liu Xiaodan shrieked soundlessly was he saw the child alarmed by the other"s action. The son gazed at his father who gestured him to stop whatever he was thinking. The child only collected Liu Heima and vanished, only to reappear next to Liu Xiaodan. The father grinned at him and patted his head for being such an obedient child.

Footsteps came to the direction of the door, and Liu Xiaodan straightened to greet Wen Taio who just came in. The newcomer, however, only wore a serious face and asked Liu Xiaodan to slap Ruan Jin awake while he wake Xu Disung. The other two roused after a few minutes, but Ruan Jin refused to sit up. They just grouped around "his" bunk bed, Xu Disung sitting on the mattress as well.

"Guys, check this one out." Wen Taio showed them a clip he downloaded into his smartphone.

It was a video of the girls" dorm lobby, and the female housekeeper was left polishing the wooden fixtures. She had her back turned against the sofas and the center table. For some reasons, the video started to receive static, and the center table just flew to the ceiling as if someone tossed it up in the air. The housekeeper screamed at the sudden movement, finding no one to blame for the damage.

"Someone from the girls" dorm got this, and it became viral in the campus just now." Wen Taio then handed his phone to Liu Xiaodan, instead of their video expert Ruan Jin who covered his face with the crumpled sheets. "They were asking the Film and TV Prod if it was faked or not."

"I can do that." Xu Disung volunteered to work on it, slipping past Wen Taio to set his laptop which was on the desk allotted for them two to share.

Liu Xiaodan replayed the scene again and again, as if looking for something. He then gasped as he finally found the frame he was looking for. He spoke to Xu Disung who was setting up his laptop. "Ready the editor. There"s a frame I want to see."

After minutes of setting up, the three were fazed by the frame Liu Xiaodan found. It was the exact time before the center table flew. There was a weird reflection on the gla.s.s, which could have been a person who lifted the table. However, it was unlikely to be a person since that center table had three inches of gla.s.s with a metal frame. It was too heavy for one person to lift, and to toss it a meter high in the air needed a super human.

Xu Disung could only rub his chin, hoping he could come up with something else rather than freezing Ruan Jin the moment he managed to get up from Liu Xiaodan"s bed. He turned to Wen Taio who was taking deep breaths, replacing his words with unsure grunting, He then turned to the other side to see Liu Xiaodan who was conflicted as well.

"Why does your bed smell like flowers, Xiaodan?" Ruan Jin stretched as he walked towards them. "What did you guys find?"

"Someone shopped a face in the video." Xu Disung blurted with a laugh, finding his own words ridiculous. However, he was joined by Wen Taio and Liu Xiaodan in laughing at it. He tapped against his screen, directing Ruan Jin"s gaze on the frame. "So crafty, so shrewd."

Ruan Jin pulled his head back in denial, but he was scared of taking a closer look. However, being the more knowledgeable in that field compared to his dorm mates, he started checking. Instead of staying on that very frame, he inspected the ones before it and the ones shortly after. The three had done the same, but they let him do his own check.

"There are no sudden lights that could have casted the reflection. The light from the ceiling did not change either." He pulled away and sighed in relief rather. "It"s a fake. It that was a ghost or something like that, it should have faded into the gla.s.s rather than appearing in full opaque image."

"And the static?" Xu Disung reminded him.

"Well, that didn"t play anything. Unless it made the video slow down its frame rate which was actually consistent all throughout." Ruan Jin shrugged, only to back against Liu Guangru by accident. He felt chilling wind behind him, which made him jump forward. He only rubbed his behind after finding nothing there.

The three clapped until he jumped. Liu Xiaodan called Liu Guangru close with a hand gesture outside of the three"s line of sight. The child went to his side, holding onto Liu Heima dearly.

"How would you explain the fly though?" Wen Taio challenged him again.

"Special effects. The frame rate is so consistent, it"s easy to generate a sequence." Ruan Jin tapped against his own head with a finger. "And common sense, Taio. A three-inch gla.s.s doesn"t break apart in huge pieces. It shatters into bits."

"To think about it. The sound was weird." Liu Xiaodan agreed with Ruan Jin. "I didn"t hear the metal skid against the floor."

"Wow, I"m so impressed with you two!" Xu Disung left his mouth open and clapped at them. "Why are you guys still labeled good-for-nothing like me, I wonder."

"Because my Major can"t save my academics!" Ruan Jin laughed out, his sentiment shared by Liu Xiaodan.

Wen Taio laughed with them as he shared the news with the chat group where he heard about the video. Some called him a liar while some were disappointed. But then another one said, there was another video taken that time. She emphasized that it was the real video.

"Guys, check it out! There"s another one! A girl from Cla.s.s Two said it was the real one!" Wen Taio watched it with the other three, their heads trying to get a good look on the second video.

It was the same scene, but nothing else happened but the housekeeper being spooked. The four frowned in confusion. Nothing actually happened, and they claimed it was a real ghost video. However, Wen Taio suddenly dropped the phone and hit the floor with a thud. The video played again, and the four just looked down at it, as if there was a force that stopped them from picking it up. Then again, Liu Xiaodan saw Liu Guangru crawl down and watched the video himself.

The child looked at his father, his dark beady eyes staring at the other in confusion. "Baba, do you know this lady?"

"Ah, that lady is the housekeeper, right? In the girl"s dorm?" Liu Xiaodan asked Wen Taio and received a hum.

"Let"s go see her!" Liu Guangru smiled at him in excitement.

The father caught a different glint from the kid"s gaze. He then picked up the phone and stared at the video again as he replayed it one more time. He frowned. "Guys, who is she? I mean, have you ever gone to the girl"s dorm before?"

"Huh? Not yet, but she"s dressed as the housekeeper so..." Wen Taio hummed, before gasping at an idea. He reached out to collect his phone, which was given back to him. He pressed back to get rid of the video and read through some lines in the group chat. He then read what he was typing down. "Can someone ask Chuan Nayi to see us outside the girl"s dorm? We just wanted to ask her something."

"Why Nayi?" Liu Xiaodan twitched, soon feeling an excited grip of a small hand on his finger.

"Look. This happened in the lobby where we could sit around, okay?" Wen Taio chuckled as he put on a smug face. "Let"s investigate! Besides they did ask Film and TV Prod after all!"

"Come on, we already found out it was a fake!" Ruan Jin pouted, before he twitched in realization. He then stroked at his chin with a grin from one ear to another. "Wait, that"s right, let"s investigate."

Xu Disung also chuckled in agreement with the two. "Yeah, Xiaodan, you"re going to with us! Chuan Nayi only talks to you so... get us some permission to enter!"

Liu Xiaodan scratched his head in defeat. "You just want to see the girls in their house clothes." Then again, it was not like he did not want to see the same.

The clock ticked ten in the morning, and the four hors.e.m.e.n of apocalypse as their cla.s.s called them waited for Chuan Nayi. They were in their most stylish attires to get attention from the girls inside. Then again, the only attention they got were weird looks from the women, who had no idea why they were standing outside.

"Xiaodan!" Chuan Nayi"s golden voice called out the father, and was even greeted by Liu Guangru and his new brother. She could feel the gaze coming from the ground, but unlike before, she smiled at the direction as if greeting it back. She brought her gaze to the show-offs at the distance and giggled as if making fun of them. "My, my, talk about looking not suspicious at all!"

"Sorry, we kinda went overboard." Liu Xiaodan answered, secretly keeping his eyes on Liu Guangru who was excited to see the mother he wanted. He then cleared his throat and explained the so-called investigation to her. He even showed her the video.

"Oh my, that"s really weird." Chuan Nayi commented and gave the phone back to him. "Sure, I can just use this opportunity to give them to you!" She smiled again and bent her body a bit to the side to see the other three. "Do you mind waiting in the lobby for me?"

With that, the four sat in the same lobby in the video. There were girls talking nearby, but they went silent as they walked in. Instead of admiring the place, the four had never felt so awkward before. However, Xu Disung was the first one to move around, going to the place where the housekeeper was standing after finding the location of the CCTV which caught it. Wen Taio soon followed him, while Ruan Jin spread a little in the seat and leaned back into the soft support. Liu Xiaodan only watched Xu Disung and Wen Taio, having Liu Guangru seated on one of his thighs and playing with Liu Heima.

However, the child got bored and noticed the flat-screen television mounted on the wall, opposite the ones Xi Disung and Wen Taio were looking. The latter of the men gestured to the direction the housekeeper faced in the video, before seeing the television turn on in an instant. Needless to say, everyone in the lobby froze.

It was on a children"s show so Liu Xiaodan knew it was Liu Guangru"s fault. The lobby had become too quiet that the show was only thing they could hear aside from Ruan Jin"s loud breathing. Laughter came from the show, but the students were still horrified. One of the women got up to change the channel, but Liu Xiaodan asked her to leave it.

"It"s interesting... I think." He ended up making her cringe.

Chuan Nayi got downstairs with a few of her friends, only to notice that they were watching a children"s show. She then laughed out, gazing at Liu Xiaodan"s direction. "Xiaodan, preparing for a toddler?"

Liu Xiaodan blushed full red in three seconds flat. He then leaned down and covered his face with his hand. The other guys stared at him in suspicion, as much as everyone else did. However, Chuan Nayi walked up to him and sat on the sofa as she laid down a box. Her friends placed the disposable plates and forks. She opened it, and there was a cake.

"Congratulations on your work last Friday! That was a first so let"s celebrate!" Chuan Nayi beamed her sweetest towards Liu Xiaodan, who was the director of the short doc.u.mentary. She cut the cake into slices with a plastic knife. "Also our teacher wanted to use it as a sample for other cla.s.ses, so we have more reason to celebrate!"

"Why weren"t we informed!?" Ruan Jin suddenly popped from his seat and was in awe by their own work. He was then handed with a slice with his own paper plate and fork. "Ah, being given some cake by Nayi-" he could not help but to whisper in glee.

Even Xu Disung joined the sofa to get his cake slice, and even the one for Wen Taio. During the cake-giving, the latter beckoned Liu Xiaodan to come to his spot. The father waited for Liu Guangru to get off before walking to the other bro.

"The television isn"t seen in the video." Wen Taio hummed in seriousness. "Do you think something showed up in it last night?" He looked at Liu Xiaodan who was eying at the direction of the television. "Jin said there was no other light source, so it"s probably something from the television. Do you want to listen to the audio again?"

"If someone tapped against it, then it can"t be heard by the CCTV." Liu Xiaodan kept on eying at the television, but he was actually watching Liu Guangru stare at the cake slice in front of him. That was for his father, though. He then brought his gaze to Wen Taio. "We should find the housekeeper-"

The lights went out, making everyone look up to see the LED lamp in the ceiling. Soon, it turned on again. The guests and the residents of the girls" dorm looked at one another as if finding what could have been amiss. Suddenly, Chuan Nayi gasped in surprise.

The cake slice for Liu Xiaodan was gone. And so was Liu Guangru.

Liu Xiaodan could only sigh and tapped Wen Taio as if inviting him to eat with them. The two walked towards the sofa, only to be greeted by a sad and puffing Chuan Nayi, who was closing the lid of the empty cake box.

"Ah, it"s okay. I"m not really into sweets. Thanks for the thought, Nayi." Liu Xiaodan chuckled as he sat down on his previous seat.

"Oh, it should work a little then." The girl giggled and took her own slice. She forked a portion and reached out towards the guy. "Then let"s share! Say "ahh!"

"Nayi!"