Chapter 6: The Song Before Drowning

The headmaster's office smelled of ink and sandalwood, a combination that usually calmed Bai Su's nerves. Tonight, it only made her more alert—every shadow seemed to move, every creak of the floorboards felt like a footstep behind her.

Headmaster Zhao sat behind his desk, his fingers steepled, his face unreadable. The oil lamp between them cast long shadows across his weathered features, making him look older than his fifty years. Beside him stood a woman Bai Su didn't recognize—tall, sharp-featured, dressed in the grey robes of a discipline master.

"Miss Bai," the headmaster said, his voice carrying none of its usual warmth. "This is Master Wei. She has been investigating the incidents at this academy for the past three days."

Incidents. Not deaths. Not murders. Bai Su's hands still tingled with the phantom sensation of blood that had vanished from her palms.

"I see you've been exploring the bell tower," Master Wei said. Her voice was like cracked ice—cold and sharp enough to cut. "Curious. Most students avoid that place."

"I heard a bell ringing," Bai Su said. "I went to investigate."

"At midnight? During a curfew?" Master Wei circled her like a hawk studying prey. "And what did you find?"

Bai Su's mind raced. She could tell them about the ghost scholar. About the blood that appeared and disappeared. About the footprint that matched her shoe but wasn't hers. But something in Master Wei's eyes warned her to be careful.

"Nothing," she said. "The chamber was empty. The bell wasn't ringing when I arrived."

Master Wei's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "And yet reports say the bell tower was heard across the entire academy. Students woke from their sleep. Teachers rushed to investigate. But you, alone in the tower, heard nothing?"

"I heard the echo," Bai Su said carefully. "By the time I reached the top, it had stopped."

Headmaster Zhao exchanged a glance with Master Wei. Something passed between them—an understanding that made Bai Su's skin crawl.

"Miss Bai," the headmaster said, leaning forward, "I'm going to ask you a difficult question, and I need you to answer honestly. Have you been experiencing... unusual phenomena since arriving at Wutong Academy?"

The question hung in the air like a blade waiting to fall.

"Define unusual," Bai Su said.

"Seeing things that aren't there. Hearing voices. Finding yourself in places you don't remember going." Master Wei's eyes bore into her. "Waking up with blood on your hands."

Bai Su's breath caught. She looked down at her palms, clean now, but she could still feel the dried, cracked texture against her skin.

"No," she lied.

Master Wei smiled. It was not a kind smile. "Then you won't mind if I conduct a small examination. Standard procedure for all students who enter restricted areas."

Before Bai Su could protest, Master Wei's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. The woman's fingers were ice-cold, her grip like iron. Bai Su felt a jolt run through her body—not pain, but something else. A pulling sensation, as if Master Wei was drawing something out of her.

The room flickered.

For just a moment, Bai Su saw the office differently. The headmaster's desk was covered in examination scrolls, each one stained with blood. The walls were lined with faces—ghostly, translucent, watching her with hollow eyes. And Master Wei... Master Wei's face was split in two. One half was the stern discipline master. The other half was a skull, bone-white, with a single glowing eye.

Then the vision vanished, and she was staring at Master Wei's concerned expression.

"Interesting," Master Wei said, releasing her wrist. "Her qi is stable. No signs of corruption." She turned to the headmaster. "She's clean."

Headmaster Zhao let out a breath Bai Su hadn't realized he was holding. "Thank the ancestors. I was worried the veil was thinning faster than we anticipated."

"Then you believe me?" Bai Su asked. "About the bell tower?"

"I believe you heard something," the headmaster said carefully. "But I think you may have misunderstood what you saw. The bell tower has been sealed for years. No one rings that bell. It's been locked since the incident."

"Incident?"

Master Wei's skull-half smiled beneath her flesh-half. "Ten years ago, a student threw himself from that tower. He was a brilliant scholar, top of his class, destined for the highest honors. But three days before the imperial exams, he jumped. They found his body on the courtyard stones, his examination scroll clutched in his hands."

"The scroll," Bai Su whispered. "The one with the bloodstains."

"You've seen it?" Master Wei's eyes sharpened.

"I found it in the library. In a book about the academy's history."

Master Wei and Headmaster Zhao exchanged another glance. This time, Bai Su caught the fear in it.

"That scroll should have been destroyed," the headmaster said.

"It wasn't. Someone hid it in the library. I think they wanted it to be found."

Master Wei's face hardened. "Who?"

"I don't know. But I think the ghost who rang the bell tonight wanted me to find it. Wanted me to see something."

"See what?" Master Wei demanded.

Bai Su closed her eyes, trying to recall every detail of the bloodstained scroll. The characters were faded, the ink smeared by tears and blood. But one phrase stood out, written in a trembling hand across the bottom margin:

*"They are not who they appear to be. The dead walk among the living. And the living..."*

Three characters were smeared beyond reading. Then:

*"...must become ghosts to survive."*

Bai Su opened her eyes. "The scroll was a warning. The student who wrote it—the one who jumped—he discovered something. Something about the academy. About the ghosts who study here."

"We already know about the ghosts," Headmaster Zhao said. "The academy has always housed both the living and the dead. It's no secret."

"But that's not what he discovered." Bai Su's voice dropped. "I think he discovered that some of the ghosts aren't ghosts. And some of the living aren't alive."

The silence that followed was absolute. Even the oil lamp seemed to dim, the shadows pressing closer.

Master Wei's face had gone pale. "That's impossible. The veil between life and death is absolute. No one can cross it without dying."

"Then how do you explain the ghost who walks the halls at midnight? The one who tutors students for extra incense? The one who knows things he shouldn't about the lives of the living?"

"He's a ghost," Master Wei said firmly. "He died before the imperial exams. He's been here for decades."

"Has he?" Bai Su met her gaze. "Or has he been here for only a few years, pretending to be a ghost while he drains life qi from the living?"

Master Wei's hand moved before Bai Su could react. Cold fingers pressed against her forehead, and the world went white.

---

Bai Su stood in a courtyard she didn't recognize. The buildings around her were familiar—Wutong Academy's distinctive curved roofs and red pillars—but everything was faded, washed out, like a painting left too long in the sun.

A figure stood at the center of the courtyard. Young, male, dressed in scholar's robes. His back was to her.

"You found the scroll," he said. His voice was hollow, echoing, as if it came from very far away. "I knew you would. You were always the clever one."

"Do I know you?"

He turned. His face was handsome, but wrong—the features slightly off, like a portrait painted from memory rather than life. His eyes were the worst. They were the color of old tea, and they held a sadness so deep it made Bai Su's chest ache.

"My name is Lin Feng. I was a student here, once. I died ten years ago."

"You're the one who jumped."

"I'm the one who was pushed."

The words hit Bai Su like a physical blow. "Pushed? By who?"

"The same person who's been killing students now. The same person who stole my life qi, my future, my chance at the exams." Lin Feng's voice cracked. "I didn't jump, Bai Su. I was thrown. And I've been waiting a decade for someone who could see the truth."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only living student who can see ghosts clearly. The only one who can move between the worlds without losing yourself." He stepped closer, and Bai Su saw the blood on his robes, the wound on his chest, the broken angle of his neck. "And because you carry something inside you that even you don't understand."

"What?"

He reached out and touched her chest, right above her heart. His fingers were cold, so cold they burned.

"Her."

The world shattered.

Bai Su gasped, stumbling backward. She was back in the headmaster's office, Master Wei's hand still pressed to her forehead, her own face twisted in alarm.

"Her?" Master Wei repeated, pulling her hand away as if burned. "Who is 'her'?"

"I don't know." Bai Su's voice was shaking. "He said I carried someone inside me. Someone even I don't understand."

Headmaster Zhao stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. "This is worse than I feared. Master Wei, seal the academy. No one leaves. No one enters."

"But the imperial exams are in three days—"

"They'll be postponed. I'd rather have angry parents than dead students."

Master Wei nodded and hurried out of the room. The headmaster turned to Bai Su, his expression grave.

"Miss Bai, I need to tell you something. And I need you to listen without interrupting."

Bai Su nodded, her heart pounding.

"The ghost you met in the bell tower—the one who told you to find the killer—he's not what he appears to be. His name was Chen Feng, and he was my star pupil. He died five years ago, not ten. He was murdered in his sleep, his throat cut from ear to ear."

Bai Su's blood ran cold.

"But here's the thing, Miss Bai. Chen Feng didn't die in the bell tower. He died in the library. And his body was found with a single character carved into his chest."

The headmaster's voice dropped to a whisper.

"The character for 'soul.'"

The oil lamp flickered. The shadows danced. And somewhere in the distance, a bell began to ring again—faint, mournful, impossibly familiar.

"That's not Chen Feng you've been talking to," the headmaster said. "That's something wearing his face. Something that's been waiting for you since the moment you set foot in this academy."

Bai Su's hand flew to her chest, where Lin Feng had touched her. Something warm pulsed beneath her palm. Something that felt like a heartbeat—but it wasn't hers.

"The one who pushed Lin Feng," she whispered. "The one who killed Chen Feng. The one who's been stealing life qi. It's the same person, isn't it?"

"I believe so."

"And they're still here. In this academy."

"Yes."

Bai Su looked down at her hands. They were trembling. But when she spoke, her voice was steady.

"I need to see Chen Feng's body."

Headmaster Zhao's face went pale. "That's impossible. He was buried years ago—"

"I need to see where he died. The library. Tonight."

"Miss Bai, that's—"

"It's the only way to find the truth." She looked up, meeting his eyes. "If the ghost I've been talking to isn't Chen