After an unknown amount of time, footsteps sounded again outside the window.
Tan Shuyue hid beneath the lectern, clutching the fragments of the ghost mirror, listening fearfully as the sound passed by the window, terrified that the dim yellow light would reappear before her eyes, just like when Xing Yina died.
But this chaotic clatter of footsteps clearly didn't belong to that flashlight ghost—it was another group. After a moment, the footsteps stopped, and then the back door of the classroom was pushed open from outside.
Entering the classroom were Zhong Qing, He Zhongtian, Zhang Haochen, and the others. Clearly, based on the information from the paranormal photos, they were opening classrooms one by one to search for clues and had stumbled into this one by chance.
"Look, there's blood on the floor!"
At that, Tan Shuyue heard one of them suddenly say, and a pang of regret hit her. The two of them had just survived an ordeal, and with everything pitch-black around, she hadn't even thought about the blood dripping onto the ground. She hadn't expected this group to discover their trail.
After Zhang Haochen's shout, Zhong Qing and He Zhongtian quickly came over. By the faint light of their phones, they indeed saw some drops of blood stretching from the front door into the classroom, winding between the desks.
"Something definitely happened in this classroom before," He Zhongtian said, crouching down. He was about to use the paranormal camera to take more photos, but Zhong Qing reached out to stop him. "There's not much film left. Use it sparingly."
As he spoke, he crouched down too, touched the blood on the floor with his finger, and said, "This happened not long ago."
"Maybe the injured person is still hiding in the classroom. If we find them and ask, we'll know what happened."
Hearing this, Tan Shuyue's heart leaped into her throat. She silently cursed her bad luck—out of so many classrooms in this huge teaching building, why did they have to find this one?
At He Zhongtian's suggestion, the others swept their gazes across the classroom. Then Tan Shuyue heard another voice: "We need to search this room, but everyone be careful. Don't forget this is a team mission—sometimes people are more dangerous than ghosts!"
"Got it, we're all on guard," He Zhongtian replied with a grin, but his eyes followed the trail of blood. "Huh, why does it stop here?"
Thank goodness for Sister Jiangrou!
Tan Shuyue felt a wave of relief. It was lucky that Jiangrou had bandaged her arm and stopped the bleeding earlier; otherwise, she would have been easily discovered by this group.
"Maybe that person has already left," Zhong Qing said, but as he spoke, he gestured to the others. This statement was clearly meant to mislead the hidden person and avoid startling them.
He had already noticed a bloody footprint near the lectern at the front of the classroom.
That person was likely hiding inside the lectern.
Just as he planned to quietly capture the hider, something unexpected happened. A black shadow suddenly flashed past the classroom window, followed by a heavy thud, as if something had fallen from above!
Could it be...
He Zhongtian, the closest, paled and rushed to the window, leaning out to look down. Strangely, though he had clearly heard the loud crash of something heavy hitting the ground and seen the shadow pass by the window, the area directly below the classroom was empty.
"Strange... was that just now..."
A clue?
"Let's go! Check it out!"
Though the person hiding in the classroom was concerning, compared to that, the clue in the story was far more important—because such clues... were fleeting!
Without a second thought, Zhong Qing led the way, pulling open the classroom door and charging into the hallway. Finding the stairwell, he quickly raced down the stairs.
The black shadow that had just flashed past the window looked like a student jumping to their death. In this haunted school, a student wouldn't appear committing suicide for no reason—it was either a killing or a clue. Now, they had to find this jumping ghost, which likely carried important information.
Hearing Zhong Qing's shout, He Zhongtian and Zhang Haochen rushed out of the classroom one after another. Li Cuinian hesitated for a moment, then moved her feet and followed, heading toward the first floor.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump—the chaotic footsteps faded into the distance. Tan Shuyue's heart, which had been in her throat, finally settled. Though she didn't know what had happened, she knew something was going on!
What should I do? Should I go out and check, tell Sister Jiangrou about this? But Jiangrou told me not to leave my hiding spot. What should I do?
After weighing her options, Tan Shuyue decided not to act rashly, because she didn't know if that group would come back.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump—after running down several flights of stairs, a large door leading outside appeared before them. The door was open, so they could see the path outside at a glance.
The faint light of the crescent moon spilled onto the road. Just as he was about to burst through the door, a strange feeling made Zhong Qing suddenly stop in his tracks.
Behind him, He Zhongtian and Zhang Haochen didn't think much of it. The two of them stepped through the door one after the other, but in an instant, both figures vanished into thin air!
This scene fell right into Li Cuinian's eyes as she ran down behind them. Stunned, the middle-aged woman screamed in terror.
In her scream, two black shadows flashed past her sight, and with two heavy thuds, they slammed onto the ground!
Those two shadows were clearly people with shattered skulls and broken limbs, their faces not showing fear but shock and disbelief.
They had never imagined dying here in such a bizarre, inexplicable way.
Those two were He Zhongtian and Zhang Haochen!
Cold sweat immediately broke out on Zhong Qing's back. The deaths of He Zhongtian and Zhang Haochen were undoubtedly the work of a ghost, but he couldn't understand why they had triggered the killing. The two had just run out of the first-floor door, vanished into thin air, and then bizarrely fallen from above to their deaths!
No doubt, it was the work of that jumping ghost from earlier, but he couldn't figure out the ghost's killing mechanism!
-- PS, second chapter delivered. Thanks to the passing rogue, book friends, and book friends for their support. Thank you all~