The mention of a new lead made us all look at him. “Zhu Jun just called,” Zheng Shuang said, “There’s another case; also odd and peculiar. The police there are grasping at straws now. He’s called to ask for your help.”

“What is this case about?” I asked, rubbing my chin inquisitively. “Someone was possessed by spirits!” Zheng Shuang said simply, his eyes glinting eerily.

My companions and I almost had our breaths held when we heard Zheng Shuang uttered the word “possessed”. This could either only be the act of Bai Chuanwei alone, or the machinations of the entire Creed! Still, there was also the challenge of the Third Apostles to a fight. At any rate, we did not know which among the Apostles would appear during that day; any of the Apostles were either smart, strong, or both, and it was only prudent for us to remain cautious. “Tell Zhu Jun,” I said to Zheng Shuang, “Ask him to bring his patient to the De Chang Center for Paranormal Studies!”

Zheng Shuang lifted his phone and placed another call to Zhu Jun, instructing him to come to our Center tomorrow with his people.

It was maybe due to my recent pensive mood, or even the fatigue that I have incurred in the course of the Center’s business throughout the year. Somehow the effects of the alcohol seemed particularly strong that night. The clock was showing one o’clock when we made it back to the Center that night. After washing ourselves up, the three of us collapsed into the couch. Feeling bored, I rummaged through my pocket and extracted the booklet manuscript that my father gave me. I was beginning to refer to it as the “Hai’s Mystic Arts” booklet, following the one-month stint of training under his wing. I had grown so accustomed to reaching for my booklet instinctively that it became part of my reflex, pretty much similar to how people would make themselves comfortable and began scrolling on their Facebook app.

But the illustrations on my booklet began to blur as I began to feel the hangover creeping in. In my addled state, my hand rose and drew circles in the air as I tried to emulate the movements of the illustrations in the booklet. One of Yuan Chongxi’s trembling hand reached for my arm suddenly and yanked it down in his delirium as he laid beside me, equally drunk and confused. “D-do… D-don’t… M-move…” He stuttered incoherently. He did not let go of my arm; instead, he wrapped his arms around my arm and began snoring. Down in the rabbit hole of drunkenness myself, I did nothing to pull out my arm, as his saliva began dripping on my sleeve. With much difficulty, I slammed the cover of my booklet shut and was about to sink further into slumber.

The sensation of my fingers caressing on the cover of the booklet was about to fade and my eyes were almost shut, when a strange face, pale as Death and completely featureless, appeared suddenly before me! My eyes jerked opened instantly as I screamed so loudly that the whole Center almost shook! I leaped up from the couch with a huge spring, recovering immediately from the wreckage of my hangover!

I looked around with my eyes as wide as eggs, frightened and horrified, but there was nothing! The strange featureless face was no more as if it had never existed! Yuan Chongxi and Lin Feng roused from their sleep, still stoned and tipsy, and began asking what happened. I told them everything that I have seen. Lin Feng placed a shaky hand on my shoulder. “You have had too much…” He murmured before collapsing down again. But Yuan Chongxi, through his misty eyes, peered strangely at me as though he was pondering about something serious.

I had no idea as to what Yuan Chongxi was up to and I made no attempt ask. Seconds passed silently until he burped suddenly, followed by a choke. At last, he spoke, “You said you had seen a large white face in front of you?” My head bobbed quickly. “Yeah! It was white!” He waved me down, motioning me to settle down. “I don’t understand. Did you just say that a person, with a cat’s head and a featureless face, was just in front of you? What is it actually? A man or a cat? Nah, it must be just a dream!”

I flailed my head around and sighed. “It was just for a fleeting second, then it was gone. I think it’s a man, but I cannot explain the cat’s head. But the face looked like a human’s, although it was completely featureless. I cannot tell if it was a man or a woman. To make things worst, it was merely inches away from me!” Yuan Chongxi merely listened and shook his head at last. “But you just said that it was merely inches away from you…” He peered around. “How could it be just inches away from you? It can’t be floating in the air just in front of you surely?!” Yuan Chongxi was right; how could it be just in front of me unless it was really floating in mid-air? My eyes began to wander as I began to look around the sitting area, a streak of cold sweat immediately broke down my back. I was lying on my couch and the only item in front of me was the coffee table. But the table was about 2 meters away! That thing could have only been perching on my coffee table and elongated its neck to come near me…

Yuan Chongxi patted my shoulder, realizing my bewilderment, of both dread and confusion. “All right, that’s enough. You must be dreaming just now; you’re just sleepy. Just drop the matter. Think about this: would there be any ghost would dare offend you? Of all people?” But I barely heard his voice. Instead, I was doubtful myself of that thing was a ghost. With my Spirit Sight, I could have easily noticed if the thing was indeed a ghost. But the thing was neither a human nor a ghost! It was something I had never seen before; something that did not even have any physical signs of living! But that was hardly the point; rather, the angle which the thing was peering at me from. It seemed to be just over my head, watching so deeply into eyes as if I was a specimen in a microscope…

The chilling sensation of another fresh film of cold sweat tingled my senses again as I felt confused, fearful, and terrified. What is it? That was no man, no demon, nor any ghost! Not even an immortal or a deity! What is it? Was it a conjuration of the Apostles who had challenged us?

The soft peals of Yuan Chongxi’s and Lin Feng’s snores chimed on either side of me. I could only look blankly into the ceiling, envious of them for being able to sleep so soundly. The ordeal had robbed me of any more desire to sleep! For the rest of the night, I remain sitting at the couch, until Zheng Shuang’s call at daybreak broke the spectral silence that hung over the Center’s sitting area and shook me awake from my disillusioned stupor.

I got up and began opening the Center for business. Zheng Shuang arrived not more than ten minutes later after I had just finished my morning rituals. He got off his car with four people with him. I recognized Zhu Jun who followed just behind him. I ushered them all indoors and Zhu Jun, unable to hold back any longer, began to say immediately, “We’ve been bogged down by a strange case, Brother Shiyan. We need your help with it. Zheng Shuang had told me that the case might be related to the major case that you were investigating, so…” I observed the other three people who were standing behind him. There were a pair of plump boys, both barely older than I was. With them was a middle-aged lady who looked worried and tensed. After a few exchanges of niceties, I learned that the woman was the mother of one of the plump boys, while both plump boys were classmates.

The mother of the first plump boy and his classmate looked normal, although the first plump boy was looking dazed, as if lost and disoriented.

“Tell me everything. As much as possible; leave no details untold,” I said to the patient’s mother and his classmate. The woman and the patient’s classmate traded a look and the boy nodded.

The two plump boys were not only classmates; they were fellow roommates at their school dormitory. The patient had been trying to woo a girl, albeit without success. Everyone tried convincing him to stop. But the boy, confident that his perseverance would bear fruit, stayed his course. Then came their holidays. The boy knew that the girl’s birthday was around the corner; he bought a large teddy bear and waited at the entrance of the female students’ dorm, hoping to surprise her. But the girl did not return to school until school reopened. The boy had waited at the girls’ dorm for an entire night in vain.

The next morning, the girl came back to school and when she went back to her dormitory, she found the boy still waiting at the entrance, clutching the large plush toy! The boy gave her the teddy bear, but she kept refusing the gift. Finally, the boy requested that the girl signed her name on the toy if she would refuse the toy. Eager to send the boy on his way, the girl signed her name on the teddy bear, just as he had requested.

For one whole night, the boy remained sleepless. He skipped his classes the next day, remaining in bed instead. His roommates returned from lunch and found him still sleeping! The rest of the boys began joking and teasing him, seeing as he was still hugging the huge teddy bear in his sleep. One of the boys yanked the teddy bear from his arms and he woke up suddenly! They began fighting for the teddy bear. Things began escalating: the roommates began tossing the teddy bear to one another like a ball in order to avoid him. But the window of their dormitory was opened; one of the boys, the patient’s classmate who came with him, accidentally threw the teddy bear out the window. The plush toy fell into the trunk bed of a passing lorry and off it went away!

Dismissing it as a mere plush toy, the rest of the boys promised to buy the boy another teddy bear for his loss. No one had known that the first teddy bear had the girl’s signature on it. Later in the evening, the boy became sick. He turned dazed and perplex, answering to no one while only wearing a blank expression on his face. The classmate pointed at the boy, “And he became like this!”