Chapter 76
Chapter 76
The desks and chairs in the multimedia classroom were coated in black-gray grime, constantly giving off a foul smell.
No. 15, No. 17, No. 19, plus No. 40, who had wandered in by accident-the four boys huddled in the gap behind the last row, listening nervously for any movement outside.
But there was nothing except the pounding of their own hearts.
After spending so long in such a closed-off, silent space, cold sweat had broken out across all their foreheads.
No. 15 had a restless personality, and after hiding there for a while, he could barely stand it anymore. He pushed back against No. 40 and said impatiently, “Sorry, but could you move back a little? My leg’s gone numb.”
No. 40 rolled his eyes, his tone unfriendly. “No. My leg’s numb too.”
After saying that, he deliberately squeezed forward even more.
No. 15 was furious. Sticking his butt out, he tried to shuffle farther in, only to accidentally step on No. 17’s foot.
No. 17 turned back and glared at him viciously, raising a fist in threat. “You got a death wish?”
No. 15: “…”
There was a wolf in front and a tiger behind. He was the idiot stuck in the middle!
No. 17 was in a foul mood and was just about to snap at No. 40 for desperately squeezing inward too.
Suddenly, No. 19 turned his head and shushed them. “Listen. Is there something outside?”
No. 17 looked at that fair, clean side profile so close to him, and some of the anger on his face faded.
Almost instinctively, his mind replayed the scene from evening self-study, when No. 19 had grabbed his collar and kissed him in order to leave the classroom.
As for what No. 19 had just said, it took him a long moment to process it.
A sound?
“Hungry…”
“So hungry…”
“I’m so hungry…”
That voice carried the weakness of something barely clinging to life, yet the movement it made was loud.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The footsteps were slow, and the body was huge. Through the palm-sized little window on the door, they could see a dark shadow moving straight ahead.
Just as that figure was about to leave the entrance of the multimedia classroom, a phone suddenly let out a shrill default ringtone.
No. 15 stared at the phone in his hand, the caller ID showing 1414114, and his face went deathly pale. For a moment, he had no idea what to do.
A phone call at a time like this-what the hell was it if not a death warrant?
Everyone froze. When they noticed the footsteps outside turning back, No. 17 was the first to react. He snatched No. 15’s phone and flung it out the window.
But it was too late. The Ghost that had followed the sound had already kicked the door open.
No. 15 looked up and saw that the Ghost entering the room had an enormous head and a huge body. What was bizarre was that its neck was not even as thick as a drinking straw.
There was one other thing: the Ghost that came in was not charred black. Its skin was deathly pale, as if its face had been painted with a thick layer of flour.
“Hungry…”
“So hungry…”
“I’m so hungry…”
With every step, the Ghost expressed its hunger. At the same time, it seemed to be sniffing out their scent while violently smashing the desks and chairs in front of it, approaching them step by step.
Everyone shrank into the last row, completely at a loss and burning with anxiety.
No. 19 quietly reached out and tried to open the back door.
Click. The sound of the lock opening was especially piercing in the silent classroom.
Coincidentally, the Ghost also paused for an instant at that exact moment. In that split second, the fear in everyone’s hearts seemed to reach its peak.
The next second, the Ghost suddenly lunged over. There was no sign of the slow, dragging pace from before. In the blink of an eye, it had leaped to within three meters of them.
Seeing this, No. 19 immediately pulled open the back door and shouted, “Run!”
Almost instantly, everyone fled for their lives at the fastest speed they had ever managed.
No. 40 was the last one to run out of the classroom. Behind him was the terrifying Ghost, whose speed was unbelievably fast.
He hurriedly opened the Live Stream Room and tapped once to draw a talisman.
[Drawing talisman… Ding! Streamer June Rain has obtained one Bad Luck Talisman.]
Fuck! Why wasn’t it a Speed Talisman?
This was so goddamn shitty. There was no way he dared slap a talisman on the Ghost behind him. An Immobilization Talisman would have been one thing, but what the hell was a Bad Luck Talisman supposed to do?!
And for some reason, the viewers in the Live Stream Room had tipped him far fewer coins this time-only enough for him to draw a single talisman.
A sudden rush of wind came from behind him. Acting on instinct, he slapped the talisman in his hand onto No. 19’s back.
No. 19 was never particularly athletic to begin with. In just a few seconds, he had already fallen to third place. Just as he gritted his teeth and prepared to speed up, his shoelace somehow came undone, and he hit the ground with a thud.
No. 40 shot past him.
The Ghost stopped beside No. 19 just like that. Its enormous head leaned in, eyes narrowing as it sniffed at No. 19. “Soup… It smells like soup…”
With a head that huge, it was hard to imagine how that straw-thin neck managed to support it.
“Eat… I’ll eat you!”
The Ghost stretched out a palm as big as a palm-leaf fan and clamped down hard on No. 19’s shoulder. Thick saliva pooled in its mouth, and a foul stench surged toward him.
No. 19 felt as if his shoulder was about to be crushed. He struggled with all his might, but he was no match for the Ghost.
The sweat constantly seeping from his hand soaked through the thin Bad Luck Talisman, turning it soggy until it fell apart into several pieces.
Just as he shut his eyes and resigned himself to death, the expected pain never came. Without warning, a warm hand grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the Ghost’s grasp, which had already been frozen in place.
No. 17 didn’t say a word. He just dragged No. 19 and ran.
As they fled, No. 19 glanced back at the Ghost rooted to the spot. His gaze swept over the job badge pinned to its chest-Principal: Lai Xinrong.
No. 15 and No. 40 were long gone up ahead. No. 17 cursed under his breath as he kicked open a door and pulled No. 19 inside to hide.
“If I see that dumbass again, I’ll cripple him myself!”
No. 19 knew he was talking about No. 40. After a moment of silence, he held out his only Speed Talisman. “I didn’t manage to exchange for an Immobilization Talisman. Can I pay you back with this for now?”
No. 17 didn’t look at the talisman in front of him. His gaze landed on the other man’s wrist, where a pale blue vein showed beneath the fine, fair skin.
By the time he snapped back to his senses, his hand had already touched No. 19’s wrist. The instant he realized it, he shoved No. 19’s hand away, nearly knocking him over.
No. 17 froze for a second, as if realizing his reaction had been too extreme. He turned his head aside to cover it up, his voice a little hoarse. “You can’t even run half as well as I can. Keep it for yourself, weakling!”
No. 19 pressed his lips together, tightened his grip on the Speed Talisman, and said softly, “Thank you.”
**
The night was pitch-black, and the campus was devastated as far as the eye could see.
No. 23 crept slowly down the silent, empty corridor.
From time to time, a cold wind blew in through the open windows, making the curtains hanging there-riddled with tiny holes burned through by flames-snap and flutter.
As he walked, he kept looking toward the opposite side of the gallery.
A figure hidden around the corner had the pale blue hem of his clothes lifted by the wind. No. 23 touched his chest, and his frantic heartbeat gradually slowed in that instant.
He walked on alone, step after step, and before he knew it, he was listening to the sound of his own footsteps.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap…
All of a sudden, a chill crawled up his back.
At some point, another set of footsteps had appeared behind him!
Just as he was losing his head, Qiao Yu’s slightly displeased voice came from the opposite gallery.
“Head Teacher Liu, can you not come over here and get in the way right now?”
Head… Head Teacher Liu?
No. 23 slowly turned his head back, only in time to see Head Teacher Liu fleeing in utter panic.
No. 23: “……”
He knew he probably shouldn’t feel this way.
After all, the real culprit using him as bait to fish for ghosts was clearly Qiao Yu.
But for some reason, he was actually a little touched.
Had the big shot somehow brainwashed him without him realizing it?
Seeing No. 23 standing there like an idiot, Qiao Yu frowned and called out, “What are you standing around for? Walk a few more steps! If that doesn’t work, run a few laps. Work up a sweat-maybe the smell will carry farther.”
No. 23: “……Oh.”