Footsteps echoed from the other end of the corridor. Tan Shuyue heard the sound and stood up from the ground, but this time, the footsteps weren’t the slow, dragging rhythm of the flashlight ghost—instead, they came in overlapping patters.
With the footsteps, two figures appeared at one end of the hallway, followed by two more behind them.
A flicker of surprise crossed Jiang Rou’s face.
“Pan Long?”
“Heh heh heh… It’s Group Nine… What are you doing here?”
Pan Long wore a strange grin on his face, while Zhou Chuhan and Song Ze also had smiles.
“N-nothing.” Tan Shuyue seemed to sense the odd atmosphere hanging in the air, instinctively growing wary and stepping back two paces.
“Nothing?” Song Ze let out a hollow laugh. “You wouldn’t have found some clue and be hiding it from us, would you?”
“That’s not true.”
Jiang Rou quickly shook her head. “There’s no clue here. We’re about to leave. If you don’t believe us, look for yourselves.”
With that, she turned to leave, but Song Ze stepped ahead to block her path, his expression darkening.
“Jiang Rou, I won’t waste words with you. Hand over your student cards, and I won’t make things difficult.”
“What did you say?” Tan Shuyue’s eyes widened. “Why should we?”
“Why?” Song Ze laughed as if he’d heard something hilarious, joining Zhou Chuhan in chuckling. “Because we don’t want to die, that’s why. Little girl, how did you even survive the previous missions?”
“You… how can you do this!” Tan Shuyue trembled with rage, a thought flashing through her mind. “It was you, wasn’t it! You killed Liu Yuan, right?”
“Liu Yuan? That guy?” Pan Long, who had been silent until now, looked over darkly. “An honest man doesn’t hide his deeds. We didn’t kill Liu Yuan, but the ghost didn’t let him off.”
“You… what do you mean?” Tan Shuyue was momentarily stunned.
“These people… used Liu Yuan’s student card to redirect the ghost’s hatred. Liu Yuan was killed by the flashlight ghost.”
“Sister Jiang Rou!” Tan Shuyue’s face changed drastically. “Then we definitely can’t do what they say—it’ll get us killed!”
“That’s right. In a team mission, it’s either you or me.” Pan龙 shot a glance at Song Ze, who didn’t hesitate, pulling out a sharp knife and thrusting it at Tan Shuyue. She blocked it with her arm, leaving a long gash that bled profusely.
“Shuyue!” Jiang Rou cried out, her face turning pale, as if she hadn’t expected them to kill without a second thought, without any moral qualms.
A flicker of cruelty crossed Song Ze’s face. Just as he was about to finish the job, Pan Long called out from behind, “Wait.”
He turned his head. “Brother Long?”
“Give the knife to Zheng Zihao. Let him do it.” Pan Long’s voice was ice-cold.
Song Ze immediately understood—Brother Long wanted to test Zheng Zihao, teach him to adapt to this kind of team mission. He walked over and shoved the knife into Zheng Zihao’s hand, saying, “Zheng Zihao, you need to understand—if you can’t harden your heart and show no mercy, next time, you’ll be the one dead!”
When Zheng Zihao heard his name called, his mind exploded with a buzz. He feared the murderous ghost, and he feared death, but the thought of hurting others to save himself tormented him deeply.
Yet, if I don’t redirect the ghost’s hatred, I’ll die myself.
With that thought, Zheng Zihao’s mind calmed considerably. Suppressing the nausea of his conscience, he gripped the knife and walked toward Tan Shuyue.
“Wait!”
Jiang Rou suddenly stepped forward, shielding Tan Shuyue behind her. “If it’s just the card you want, we’ll give it to you. Just don’t hurt anyone.”
“Sister Jiang Rou!” Tan Shuyue cried out in pain from behind. “Sister Jiang Rou, I’m sorry… for making you do this for me…”
“We’ll find another way!”
Pale from pain and blood loss, Tan Shuyue hesitated, shot a hateful glare at Zheng Zihao, and reached into her pocket.
Just then, a rustling sound—shasha, shasha—crept into everyone’s ears, a sound that sent chills down their spines!
In the next moment, at the end of the hallway, a darkness deeper than the night itself coalesced, and within it, a dim yellow light shone from the stairwell around the corner!
It was the flashlight ghost!
As the ghost appeared, the flashlight flickered, and the dim yellow light fell upon everyone.
As if struck by some strange force, everyone found themselves unable to move, forced to watch helplessly as the ghost drew closer.
Pan Long and Song Ze’s eyes bulged with terror. They both carried items to fend off ghost attacks, but none of them had expected the flashlight ghost to appear so abruptly this time, aiming its beam directly at them. What they hadn’t anticipated was that being caught in that light would freeze them completely.
So that’s it… that’s it…
Cold sweat dripped from Pan Long’s forehead. He finally understood why Liu Yuan had been killed so quickly without any struggle—caught in the dim yellow light, you couldn’t move. Even with the strongest items, if you couldn’t use them, death was certain.
Unwilling! A fierce unwillingness!
Pan Long refused to die like this! He had struggled so hard to get this far!
Shasha, shasha, shasha. Holding the flashlight with its dim yellow glow, the ghost teacher’s true form finally appeared before everyone. It still wore the same government-worker-style clothes from the 1970s or 80s, its face shrouded in black mist, leaving only the dim yellow flashlight beam piercing the darkness. This silent scene was utterly bone-chilling.
Though its face was hidden in black mist, Song Ze somehow felt the ghost was looking at him.
Why… why me…
He screamed madly in his mind, but not a sound escaped his lips. He could only watch as the swaying dim yellow light drew closer and closer.
Until the ghost teacher’s hand, holding a bloodstained pen, stabbed into his eye socket!
Song Ze was dead, thoroughly dead. No one could survive having their skull pierced. Pan Long, standing closest to Song Ze, watched helplessly as he was killed, his body crumpling to the ground.
The ghost tilted its head, expressionless, staring at Song Ze’s bloody corpse on the floor for a moment, then looked up, its face in the black mist seeming to search for its next target.
It… it wasn’t stopping yet—it was going to keep killing!
-- PS: Still two updates today. Posting one first. I have some business in the afternoon and will update tonight, later than usual. Those willing to wait can do so. Also, I’d like to ask readers to give this book a five-star rating to boost the score. Thank you all!