All around was water—cold, pitch-black water, water with no bottom in sight. Looking up, that patch of water above was as unreachable as a skylight.
Surrounded by this icy, dark water, a swollen, floating ghostly face loomed before him. Such a horrifying scene, enough to scare anyone to death, yet Lin Tianheng's face showed no trace of fear. This man's nerves seemed forged from steel, utterly ignorant of what terror meant.
"You showed me that letter and used such tricks to scare me—you must want me to do something you can't do yourself. Actually, you didn't need to go this far. If you agree to one condition of mine, I'll find a way to fulfill your wish."
The ghostly face in the water remained motionless, but its eyes suddenly snapped wide open, glaring at Lin Tianheng.
"Not unwilling to speak, but unable to? Looks like my guess is right. What do you really want? Let me take a guess."
The ghostly face in the water was undoubtedly the most terrifying among the spirits, but it had the bad luck of running into Lin Tianheng, a guy who wasn't afraid of ghosts. What's so scary about ghosts? Sometimes, people are far more frightening.
Moreover, after dealing with the ghosts of Jiang Xiaohui and Sun Jingyan, he understood more and more that these student ghosts, though they attacked participants, were ultimately like "monsters" in a game—there to "hand out gear" to them. As long as you stayed calm, they weren't as terrifying as imagined.
Chen Jingyue's ghost had dragged him to the bottom of the water but hadn't attacked immediately—that was a clear hint. But if a participant missed that window and didn't catch on, that's when the real killing might begin.
So, what did Chen Jingyue's ghost really want him to do?
Ghosts couldn't speak, so this was a puzzle left for the participants. The clues to solve it must have already been given.
In that letter the ghost had shown him.
"If I'm guessing right, Chen Jingyue, after you received that letter, you never got to see what that special gift was, did you?"
"So your goal isn't to kill people, but to use various means to drag them into this sealed space where you died, and make them see the letter in the locker. Because you've always wanted to know what that special birthday gift was. This obsession has bound you to this school."
The deep, dark water suddenly churned. The female ghost before him stretched out her hands, letting out a painful, piercing wail, but she didn't attack him.
"Not attacking me means I'm right. So let's make a deal, Chen Jingyue. I'll help you find that undelivered gift, but you have to lend me your student card. Otherwise, we won't be able to move around the campus at night."
The pale ghostly face stared hard at Lin Tianheng. After a moment, it slowly faded away, but from the deep water, a corpse in a student uniform gradually rose—Chen Jingyue's actual body.
Lin Tianheng reached into the corpse's pocket and, sure enough, found the last ghost student's student card.
Splash! A sound of water suddenly came from above. The "skylight" was now within reach. He swam fiercely to the surface, stood up in one motion, and found himself back in the pool room, standing in the water.
He patted his pocket—the ghost student's card was still there, proving everything he'd just experienced wasn't an illusion. The name on the card was indeed Chen Jingyue.
All four ghost student cards were finally in hand!
Ignoring his soaking wet clothes, Lin Tianheng immediately climbed out of the pool, passed through the shower room and locker room, and headed outside. This time, the iron door that had been locked before swung open easily.
As he pushed it open, he saw Chen Mo and the others rushing over from outside. Seeing Lin Tianheng unharmed, they let out a huge sigh of relief. But when they noticed his drenched state, Dai Minghan couldn't help bursting into laughter. "Lin Tianheng, what's up with you? Don't tell me the female ghost gave you a bath?"
Lin Tianheng jumped up in mock anger, and Chen Mo quickly stepped in to stop him. But he was just putting on a show. He immediately pulled out the student card. "Look, what's this?"
"The fourth ghost student card?!" Dai Minghan's eyes went wide. "Lin Tianheng, I didn't know you had it in you!"
"That Chen Jingyue ghost wasn't really that scary." Lin Tianheng shrugged and smiled, recounting his experience. "Let me break it down. Chen Jingyue's ghost ability probably uses water as a medium to pull participants to where she died. At the same time, it shows them the letter in the locker room, hinting at the ghost's wish. Then it drags them into the water a second time. At that point, the ghost doesn't attack right away. If the participant doesn't figure out the ghost's wish and propose a deal within a certain time, then Chen Jingyue's ghost goes for the kill!"
"Nice one, Lin Tianheng. Next mission, you should just do the analysis." Dai Minghan teased deliberately. "But I'm curious—what did that letter say, and what was the ghost's wish?"
"Well, I don't actually know." Lin Tianheng shook his head. "That letter was written to Chen Jingyue by Chen Mingyuan on her birthday, mentioning a special gift. How would I know what it was?"
"So you pretended to agree to the ghost's wish and tricked it into giving you the card? Aren't you just deceiving a ghost?"
"So what?" Lin Tianheng shrugged, looking unconcerned. "Look, don't get too caught up in this. This is just a horror story cooked up by a radio station. Are you really taking it seriously? We participants are just passersby in this story. Now that we've got all four ghost student cards, let's use them to get the four-digit code and head to the principal's office for the key."
"That's true..." Chen Mo frowned. Getting the ghost student cards was indeed their goal as participants. Since Chen Jingyue's ghost had dragged everyone to her death site, it meant the ghost was bound by rules and couldn't easily leave the pool. As long as they didn't go near that place again, there shouldn't be any more danger.
If they went looking for some gift for the ghost, that would just stir up more trouble.
"Alright, let's head back quickly and use the ghost student cards to get access to the principal's office!"
-- PS: Thanks to big shot Jinchuan Zhibu for the massive reward—I'm doing a kneeling slide of gratitude. Thanks to the reader for the little potato tip, and thanks to everyone else too.