Chapter 3

The ghost cannot be killed.

The only one who can deal with the ghost is another ghost.

Understand the ghost's patterns.

Three sentences were clearly written on the blackboard, messy yet clear, indicating that Zhou Zheng had put a lot of effort into writing them.

However, the students in the evening self-study class looked at each other in confusion.

Is this person really here to give a lecture? Isn't he just a lunatic who wandered in from somewhere, trying to fool us with incomprehensible nonsense?

Some students shook their heads, disbelieving his words.

Others began to whisper and even laugh.

Clearly, most of the students did not take Zhou Zheng's words seriously.

Only Yang Jian's expression was somewhat grave, as the story from the forum yesterday and the photo made him feel very uneasy. Coupled with this person's strange words... Could it be that the world is really undergoing some changes that he doesn't know about?

After writing the three sentences, Zhou Zheng did not say much more. Instead, he looked at everyone with his tired, bloodshot eyes: "Students, if you have any questions or if anything strange happens to you, you can ask me. I will answer your questions. If there's nothing to ask, today's safety lecture ends here."

No one raised their hand to ask a question.

"Should I ask him about the old man in the photo?"

Yang Jian's expression changed as he took out his phone, opened the forum, and flipped to the photo of the old man again.

Just as he hesitated, the lights in the classroom suddenly dimmed, making the entire room somewhat dark.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Zheng's expression changed, and he immediately became very alert.

Yang Jian also instinctively looked up, but when he inadvertently saw a figure in the corridor outside the window, his eyes widened instantly, and his body tensed up, a wave of extreme fear surging from his heart and quickly enveloping his entire body. At that moment, he even lost sensation in his body.

Outside the window, an old man in a black robe stood stiffly, his face covered in corpse spots. His gray, lifeless eyes looked at the classroom without any expression, standing there like a cold corpse.

Around the old man, everything was pitch black, without a hint of light. The corridor lights seemed to have completely gone out, and a thick darkness, like mercury, rapidly eroded into the classroom.

The wall near the old man visibly aged, the freshly painted surface suddenly looking as if it had aged by several decades, covered in moss, the paint turning black and peeling off, a gloomy, decaying smell gradually spreading.

"It's the old man from the forum story... Impossible, how is he here?"

Yang Jian's hand turned pale from gripping his phone too hard. He clutched it tightly, the screen showing the photo of the old man, identical to the one outside the window, but the one outside was even more terrifying...

He was so frightened that he stood up from his seat, his chair tipping over due to his agitation.

Because of his extreme actions, the other students in the class all looked at him.

"Yang Jian, why are you standing up? Sit down quickly, don't disrupt the class discipline," Mr. Wang shouted from the back.

But Yang Jian didn't seem to hear. His terrified eyes were fixed on the old man in the black robe outside the window.

The old man moved...

His stiff body turned mechanically, his gray, lifeless eyes, unfocused, just following his head.

"Tap, tap-tap~!"

Clear, echoless footsteps sounded in the corridor, faintly reaching the classroom.

"Is he leaving?"

Yang Jian broke out in a cold sweat, desperately hoping the old man would leave and not come in.

If the story on the forum was true, then if the old man came in... the consequences were unimaginable.

But contrary to his hopes, the old man didn't leave. He took a few steps and stopped in front of the classroom door.

"Yang Jian, sit down. Didn't you hear me? You dare to disrupt the safety lecture?"

"Aah~!"

At that moment, a female student screamed, pointing at her book on the desk, too scared to speak.

Her book on the desk quickly turned yellow, then moldy, and then rotted... finally becoming a pile of black, decaying matter.

"Smells bad, Su Lei, why is there a pile of shit on your desk?" Zhang Wei pinched his nose and said.

But a male student next to her turned pale, standing up quickly and retreating several steps.

"Fang Jing, what are you yelling about?"

Mr. Wang was angry. What was wrong with the usually disciplined students today?

Zhou Zheng's eyes narrowed, his body filled with alertness. The previous signs of exhaustion disappeared, and he seemed like a fierce beast out of its cage, becoming somewhat violent and fierce. He stared at Fang Jing.

Fang Jing, however, showed an unusual calm.

"It seems you know a lot. Are you also a ghost controller?" Zhou Zheng asked.

"Zhou Zheng, this is my business, you don't need to interfere."

Then Fang Jing glared at Yang Jian: "It's all because of you, everything is your fault. I should have killed you earlier, otherwise, things wouldn't have turned out like this, and the future you is too terrifying."

Yang Jian looked at Fang Jing in confusion, not understanding his words, but he was more concerned about the old man in the black robe outside the classroom door.

The other students were shocked by his words.

"Damn, Fang Jing, your words almost scared me."

"What's a ghost controller? What future? You guys are talking too deep, I don't understand at all. Can someone explain?"

"Fang Jing seems to know something. I feel like something is off, but I'm not sure if it's just me."

"Damn, what's going on today? Everyone's brains are not working. Am I out of touch, or is the world changing too fast? Why did my book turn into a pile of shit?"

These students, facing the strange events, seemed unaware of the danger that had arrived, only curious and even excited.

Suddenly.

"Knock, knock-knock."

A dull, clear knocking sound, like a hammer striking everyone's heart, suddenly rang out, with a tone that was almost eerie, reaching the classroom.

At that moment, everyone felt as if their souls were being gripped by something, a suffocating pressure as if they were underwater and couldn't breathe.

"That knocking sound... exactly the same." Yang Jian's heart trembled.

It was the same as the sound in the audio file from the forum, only clearer in person.

Zhou Zheng's expression was particularly grave. He picked up a special phone and urgently pressed a button, and the call was immediately connected.

"Zhou Zheng? Report the situation."

A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Recorded."

The voice on the other end was quick: "Can you handle it?"

Zhou Zheng said: "The ghost has formed a ghost domain, starting to affect my location. The lights outside are gone, and the ghost domain is larger than I imagined."

"Ghost domain... the situation has escalated, it's beyond your capabilities. Please retreat quickly."

"Using ghost power in your current state is very dangerous. If you do, there might not be just one ghost, but two. I suggest you retreat. Even if you push yourself to the limit, you might not save anyone." The voice on the other end said immediately.

Zhou Zheng said: "No time. I'm less than five meters from it, right outside the classroom door, and it might already be targeting me. I will maintain communication. If it's cut off, it means I'm dead. Please deliver my will to my parents. That's all, I'm about to act."

"Knock. Knock-knock."

The dull, oppressive knocking sound continued outside, one long, two short, and at a fixed frequency, constantly knocking on the classroom door.

"Mr. Wang, someone is knocking on the door," a student who didn't know the situation shouted.

Mr. Wang hesitated, but seeing Zhou Zheng's serious expression, he was curious and opened the back door to see who was knocking.

"Don't go out." Zhou Zheng shouted urgently.

But it was too late. Mr. Wang had already gone out, and strangely, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Yes, he was gone.

Outside the classroom door, it was pitch black, the darkness seeming to swallow any light. Mr. Wang went out and there was no more sound, as if he had vanished into thin air.

And as the classroom door opened, the darkness outside, like a thick black fog, rapidly seeped in, eroding the classroom space.