Chapter 7

Yang Jian's body went limp, nearly falling to the ground. He took a few deep breaths, feeling the cold sweat on his forehead trickle down his cheeks and drip off.

Just now, he had walked a round trip through the gates of hell.

“No, I can’t stay here. I must, I must leave as soon as possible...”

He had just narrowly escaped the danger from the ghost, and he didn’t even have time to reflect on what had just happened.

He hastily grabbed his phone, turned on the flashlight, and stood up.

In the darkness, an unknown ghost was lurking. The longer he stayed, the faster he would die.

He moved forward in the dark.

Yang Jian’s whole body was trembling slightly, whether from excessive tension or an inexplicable fear.

After taking a few steps forward, as the darkness was somewhat dispelled by the light, he saw Duan Peng and Zheng Fei, their faces full of terror, standing in front of a mottled, moldy wall, frantically pounding on it.

“Who, who is it?” Zheng Fei’s voice trembled as he turned back in fear.

He saw a faint beam of light.

Yang Jian’s face was cold as he held his phone and said, “It’s me, Yang Jian.”

“Yang, Yang Jian? You’re not dead?” Zheng Fei’s fear was mixed with a bit of shock.

“Do you and Fang Jing hope I die that much?” Yang Jian asked.

Duan Peng’s emotions were agitated, and with a look of tension and fear, he lunged forward, grabbing Yang Jian and shouted, “Why did you drag me in here? Why? I have no grudge against you, why did you want to harm me?”

Yang Jian punched him in the face and said angrily, “I have no grudge against you either, but didn’t you also want to kill me? You’re blaming me for what you did. I said if I die, I’ll take you with me. I regret not grabbing Fang Jing in here; he should have experienced the feeling of being caught by the ghost.”

Duan Peng, hit to the ground, ignored the pain and said with a sob, “I don’t want to die, I just want to live. Fang Jing made me do it... If we didn’t, that thing would come out and everyone would die. It’s better for one to die than for everyone to die.”

“So I should be the one to be sacrificed? Ridiculous. If you’re so great, why don’t you sacrifice yourself? Why force others to do it?”

Yang Jian continued, “And even if you sacrifice me, can you really get out? Don’t forget there’s still a ghost outside. And don’t be naive; Fang Jing has wanted to kill me from the beginning. He must know something. I will avenge this, if I can get out of here alive...”

But before he could finish, Duan Peng’s body suddenly trembled, his face showing horror as he turned back to look.

In the thick darkness, he couldn’t see anything, but he felt a cold hand grab his wrist.

And from that cold hand, a powerful force was transmitted.

Duan Peng’s body was almost uncontrollable, being dragged backward.

“Save, save me, Yang Jian, save me...” Duan Peng screamed in terror.

Yang Jian’s heart tightened. He glanced and saw the pale hand on Duan Peng’s wrist.

His heart skipped a beat... There was no doubt, the ghost had returned.

Almost instinctively, he picked up his phone, ready to open the audio file to scare the ghost away as before.

But as he moved his hand, he stopped.

Is Duan Peng really worth saving?

No.

Not worth it.

He was in this situation because of Fang Jing, Duan Peng, and Zheng Fei.

Why should he save them now that they were in danger? They didn’t save him before, only thinking of their own escape. Even if he wanted to save them, how could he? The audio file on his phone could only scare the ghost away, not hurt it.

He was just bluffing.

Do they want to live? Don’t I want to live too?

Fang Jing was right; he was too naive before. He heard Fang Jing wanted to harm him in the classroom but didn’t guard himself.

He wouldn’t be so naive again.

He put down his phone, took a step back, and coldly watched Duan Peng being dragged back into the darkness, ignoring his cries for help.

In the end, he watched Duan Peng’s terrified face disappear into the darkness, along with the pale hand.

And the moment the darkness swallowed Duan Peng, even his cries for help disappeared.

Everything quickly returned to peace, with only the faint sound of dripping water echoing clearly.

Yang Jian turned his head, took a deep breath, and tried to calm his body and overcome his fear. Then, as if nothing had happened, he picked up his phone and began to look for a way out.

The ghost was still here, and he couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t attack him next time.

Fang Jing had said using a person could temporarily hold the ghost.

He was pushed in here because Fang Jing wanted to use his life to hold the ghost.

Since Duan Peng was taken by the ghost, the next appearance of the ghost would have a certain time interval.

If his analysis was correct, he would be safe before the next attack.

He could only hope so.

With this in mind, Yang Jian immediately began to look for a way out.

“Yang Jian, where are you going? Take, take me with you.”

Zheng Fei, seeing him leave, hurriedly tried to follow.

Yang Jian ignored him, coldly refusing, “Find your own way. Don’t follow me. Do you really expect me to take you out of here? Remember, I’m here because of you.”

With that, he quickened his pace and disappeared into the darkness.

Not avenging himself on the spot was already a sign of consideration for their classmate relationship. The ghost would definitely come for him after killing Duan Peng, so he would let Zheng Fei wait for death, buying himself some time.

If the ghost attacked again, it would likely choose Zheng Fei first.

Zheng Fei, startled, hurriedly followed, but Yang Jian was already gone, leaving only endless darkness.

“Yang, Yang Jian, where are you? Come out, I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry, I apologize...”

He sobbed, his hands groping in the darkness, but found nothing.

He continued to walk around.

Zheng Fei soon realized he was lost...

He couldn’t find Yang Jian, and when he tried to go back to the wall where he had been, he couldn’t find it either.

This place no longer seemed like the familiar toilet, but an endless dark space.

Fear gradually rose in his heart, overwhelming his remaining courage.

Then he heard heavy footsteps coming from behind.

The footsteps grew louder, approaching his position...

“Duan, Duan Peng, is, is that you?” Zheng Fei asked cautiously, his voice trembling.

Before he could finish, a pale hand reached out from the darkness, grabbing his neck from behind.

Cold, stiff, not like a living person’s hand.

“Ahh!” A hysterical scream echoed.

But Yang Jian didn’t hear it. He was now facing a problem.

He was lost in the darkness.

“This place is definitely not a toilet...” he thought, his heart tightening.

The darkness had no end, and the distance he had walked far exceeded that of a toilet.

Looking at the time on his phone, it had been twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes without leaving a toilet, without even touching a wall or a toilet, was illogical.

The only explanation was that he had walked into some unknown place.

“Damn, what is this ghost realm? Zhou Zheng didn’t even mention it in his lecture.” Yang Jian was very anxious.

Without enough information, he couldn’t analyze anything, let alone find a way to break out of the ghost realm.

“Drip, drip.”

The sound of dripping water echoed.

“Wait, that dripping sound... It disappeared for a while, why is it back now?”

Yang Jian’s expression changed, and he walked in the direction of the dripping sound without hesitation.

If there was the sound of dripping water, it meant the toilet was nearby. If he could return to the familiar toilet, he could find the door and leave this place.

Damn, he should have paid attention to this earlier.

With a direction, he felt more confident and quickened his pace.

But soon, his phone gave a low battery warning, which startled him. He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and turned off the phone.

He feared the ghost more than the darkness.

He needed to save the battery for a critical moment.

Moving forward in the dark, he was cautious.

In the darkness, only the sound of dripping water echoed, and nothing else.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, and he could hear his own breathing clearly.

But not long after he turned off the light and moved forward,

Suddenly,

“Step, step!”

A series of heavy footsteps echoed from behind him, growing louder and clearer.

The footsteps grew closer, approaching him.

Instantly, Yang Jian’s body stiffened, and he turned on his phone’s flashlight and looked back.

The light illuminated about a meter, but there was nothing behind, only thick darkness.

But the footsteps grew closer.

“It can’t be Zheng Fei or Duan Peng...” Yang Jian’s face stiffened.

In the darkness, a living person couldn’t follow him so precisely.

If it wasn’t Zheng Fei or Duan Peng, it was most likely the ghost in the toilet.

“Run.”

Feeling the footsteps getting closer, Yang Jian’s heart tightened, and he quickly sped up.