Chapter 20

Dachang City Pedestrian Street.

Around 5:30 in the morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

It was still too early, and the usually bustling and prosperous commercial street was empty, with all the shops long closed and not yet open for business.

The streetlights had not yet been turned off, still emitting a bright light.

But at this moment,

The streetlights, which had been emitting a white light, suddenly turned a blood-red color, casting an eerie red glow. The circular lights inside the lampshades reflected the shapes of red eyes, as if they were printed on them. The only unusual thing was that the eyes seemed to come to life, moving slightly.

However, this bizarre scene appeared abruptly and disappeared just as quickly.

As the streetlights flickered with a buzzing sound,

Everything returned to its original state.

The red light disappeared, and the eye patterns on the light bulbs vanished.

But strangely, the previously empty pedestrian street suddenly had seven people on it. These seven people were a mix of men and women, all very young, looking like students. However, they all appeared very abnormal, with pale faces, trembling bodies, and eyes full of fear, as if they had just experienced a great shock.

"Isn't this place the school... Where are we?"

Yang Jian's pain, which felt like his body was about to split open, gradually subsided. He fell to the ground, leaning against the glass door of a shop, breathing heavily.

It had been too dangerous just now. If it had been any later, everyone would have died in that ghostly realm.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, he opened his own ghostly realm.

The others were still in shock, looking at each other. Their eyes, still filled with fear, frantically scanned the surroundings, afraid of seeing the darkness again. But when they saw the bright streetlights and the sun gradually rising in the distance, a sense of joy at having escaped death welled up in their hearts.

This joy gradually replaced their fear, allowing them to quickly calm down.

"It seems to be the pedestrian street."

Miao Xiaoshan squatted on the ground, cautiously lifting her head to look around, unsure.

"It's the pedestrian street. I've played here since I was a child; I can't be wrong. My home is nearby."

Zhang Wei quickly said, "We're alive, we've left the school. Look, the streetlights are on, the sky is bright, and there are vehicles passing by. I can even hear the sound of car horns..."

He looked somewhat excited, never having felt that these things, which he usually took for granted, were so beautiful.

"It's really the pedestrian street; we've left the school."

Zhao Lei's hands were still trembling, and he found it hard to believe what he was seeing.

Just a second ago, they were in that dark school, and then everything went dark and bright, and they ended up on this pedestrian street.

Yang Jian still looked somewhat wary as he observed the surroundings. After confirming, he was certain that they had indeed left the school and the ghostly realm. As for why they didn't appear outside the school but on this pedestrian street, it wasn't necessary to think about it anymore.

In any case, being alive was already a stroke of luck.

The group sat on the street for about two hours before accepting everything, and their fear gradually subsided.

But from their expressions, it was clear that the ghostly incident at the school had left a deep shadow in their hearts.

"Mr. Wang, Zhao Qiang, Zheng Fei, Fang Jing... Qian Wanhu, they must all be dead, right?"

After a long silence, Zhang Wei, who was resting on a chair, slowly spoke.

The others remained silent, unable to accept that in just one night, most of their classmates were dead, leaving only a few of them.

No one answered Zhang Wei. Wang Shanshan looked at Yang Jian, somewhat nervously, and asked, "Yang Jian, what should we do now?"

At this moment, Yang Jian was the mainstay among them. The few survivors almost unconditionally followed his lead.

After all, it was Yang Jian who had led them to survive.

Yang Jian touched the wound on his arm, which had already healed and disappeared, feeling a shape of an eye hidden beneath the skin, ready to emerge at any moment.

This strange feeling told him that everything that happened last night was not a dream but very real.

"What else can we do? Since we're all alive and have left the school, and none of us are injured, we should go home and rest so our parents don't worry."

"Yang Jian, after such a big incident, the school is haunted, and so many people have died. Are we just going to go home and sleep?" Zhao Lei stood up, somewhat agitated.

Yang Jian glanced at him, "What else do you want to do? Report it to the police? Tell them the school is haunted and many people have died? Don't be naive. Zhou Zheng was an international police officer, and he died at the school. The state will definitely send people to investigate. This is a big deal, and you don't need to worry about it. Besides, we're just students. After surviving such a hard time, do you want to get involved in this? When the police come to take statements, just tell them the truth."

Zhao Lei felt Yang Jian's gaze and looked fearful, instinctively lowering his head and not saying anything more.

"Yang Jian is right. This isn't something we can handle. It's already a miracle that we're alive," Miao Xiaoshan said.

"Are you saying we just go home and sleep after such a big incident?"

Zhang Wei was somewhat stunned.

Is it really that heartless to just go home and sleep after such a big incident?

Yang Jian said, "Not go home, do you plan to go back to the school for morning reading?"

Go back to the school?

The group felt a chill. They had already decided that they would never return to the school, not even near it.

Some of them had even decided to transfer schools and leave Dachang City.

Forget about the college entrance exam and university; they would just be content with a mediocre life.

"I'm very tired. I'm going home to sleep. If anything happens, call me."

Yang Jian yawned, feeling physically and mentally exhausted, as if he could fall asleep on the ground.

"By the way, I have something to tell you about the old man at the school. You'd better stay off the internet, especially this forum where ghost stories are posted." He opened his phone and showed the post to the others.

"See this audio file? Remember, never, ever open it. This audio file is the sound of knocking, just like what Qian Wanhu heard on his phone. Whoever hears it will be targeted by the old man."

He scrolled up, showing a photo of the old man.

"Take it, take it away."

Zhang Wei and the others stepped back in fear when they saw the photo of the old man.

Yang Jian said, "The photo is fine. I've tried it. The scary part is the audio file. This post hasn't been taken down yet. At least tens of thousands of people across the country have seen the story and opened the audio file. If I'm not mistaken, the old man will soon be wandering through major cities, knocking on doors and visiting people."

"In other words, what happened yesterday will keep happening across the country, but the main characters won't be us anymore."

"Don't say such terrifying things. I'm still a child," Zhang Wei said, looking at him in fear.

Yang Jian said, "Then I won't say it. Here's your phone."

Zhang Wei quickly shook his head and took several steps back, "I don't want the phone. You should throw it away. What if that 138 number calls again?"

"This is a new Fruit X, didn't you say you bought it for over 9,000 yuan?" Yang Jian asked.

"Brother, at this point, I don't want to hide anything. I'm actually a hidden rich second generation. See that row of shops on the pedestrian street? They all belong to my family. I, Zhang Wei, don't lack money. I'll ask my dad to buy me a Nokia, no, a pager, so the call won't come through."

Zhang Wei said seriously.

"You're so rich, why don't you carry a radio?"

Yang Jian asked.

"That's a good idea. I'll consider it."

The others, hearing Zhang Wei mention the terrifying 138 number, were also too scared to keep their phones, throwing them away as if they were infected with a plague.

"Don't give me your phones. Throwing them away is a waste," Yang Jian said.

"These phones, you still want them? They've been called by a ghost. What if it calls again?" Miao Xiaoshan looked at him with wide eyes.

"Poor people have nothing to fear. Besides, if we can't use the phones, can't we sell them?" Yang Jian picked up the phones they had thrown away and asked, "Really don't want them?"

"No." Everyone said in unison.

Yang Jian said, "You're all rich. I'll sell these phones as second-hand and keep the money. You can rest assured... I won't give you a cent. Even for the next gathering, you'll have to pay."

"..."

"Let's go."

He held seven or eight phones and turned to leave.

"You, take me with you." Wang Shanshan, still fearful, wanted to follow Yang Jian.

"I'm going home to sleep. Do you want to come with me?"

Wang Shanshan said softly, "I don't mind staying at your place for a few days."

"Huh?"

Yang Jian and the others widened their eyes.

Wang Shanshan, though not the class beauty, was still very attractive, especially with her good figure from practicing dance—slim waist, long legs, and large chest... But this had nothing to do with Yang Jian, a nobody. How did she become so attached to him after just one night?

The others didn't know, but Yang Jian understood.

Wang Shanshan wasn't in love with him because of the ghost baby incident.

She was still very scared and didn't want to be alone.