My injuries have mostly healed. I climbed out the window and chased after them. The office was on the first floor, and next to it were the classroom buildings. I followed the two ahead, but gradually, I couldn't keep up.
"How are they running so fast?"
After chasing for ten minutes, Rachel Lan and Hugh Thompson were nowhere to be seen. I had already entered the small grove—it was pitch black. I called out a few times, but no one responded. Then I turned on my phone flashlight and shone it around.
It was so dark that I couldn't see anything. During the day, you could see the whole grove at a glance. But now, even though it was only eight o'clock, it was already night.
After walking along the path for a while, I heard bursts of laughter. I hurried into the woods and ran toward the sound.
Rachel Lan and Hugh Thompson had caught a man. I shone my light—it was the chemistry teacher, Martin Snow, who was panting and laughing loudly.
"Officer, I really wasn't eavesdropping on purpose, I swear. I'm just interested in these ghost stories. Besides, this isn't a normal criminal case, is it? You aren't regular police, are you? And that girl's badge is fake."
As Martin Snow spoke, I looked at him in surprise.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
Rachel Lan asked sharply.
"I told you, I'm just interested in what goes on at this school. In fact, it's because I'm interested in what happened thirteen years ago that I came to work here. Over the years, I've investigated quite a bit. Officer, can you tell me—ghosts really exist, don't they?"
Martin Snow looked at us, grinning, as if he'd discovered a treasure.
"Mr. Snow, I have no idea what you're talking about. I suggest you see a psychiatrist. I suspect you have a serious delusional disorder—and a voyeuristic tendency."
Hugh Thompson rejected Martin Snow without any courtesy.
"Look, what's behind you?" Suddenly, Martin Snow's face twisted in terror as he stared behind me.
My heart skipped a beat. I instantly let Deathbane Aura spill out, clenched my fists, and turned around. There was nothing behind me.
"Hahahahaha..." Martin Snow burst out laughing, clearly delighted. Then he stood up and came closer, staring at the Deathbane Aura in my hand.
"What is that? That's so badass, damn."
I realized he'd tricked me. I spun around and glared at him. Rachel Lan and Hugh Thompson just looked at me helplessly.
"Relax, relax, officer. I won't breathe a word of your business to anyone. Let me show you something interesting."
The three of us followed Martin Snow to his dorm. Inside, there was a small living room, a bathroom, and a bedroom.
As soon as I entered the bedroom and turned on the light, I was instantly surprised.
On the left was a bookshelf filled with ghost stories and supernatural books. The right wall was covered in photos—many of graveyards and abandoned houses. One photo showed a blurry white figure.
"Officer, that's what they call a Grey Ghost, right? Or maybe a Pale Ghost?"
"Cut the crap," Hugh Thompson said. Martin Snow opened the window, then took a thick stack of files from under his bed.
All three of us were stunned. The files were full of investigative material he'd collected.
Hugh Thompson glanced through the files and tossed them aside.
"A lot of this is your own work, but it's basically useless."
"You know, thirteen years ago, when students went missing, I asked a lot of the older teachers—twenty-three of them. In all my casual conversations, I found they all kept quiet about what happened thirteen years ago. Susan Miles was one of them."
"What's the point of all this?" I glared fiercely at Martin Snow.
"Don't rush, Mr. Zhang. I'm not finished yet. Over the years, I've worked hard and discovered something interesting: among the missing students, there was always one who was bullied for years but never dared to fight back."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked suddenly.
"This isn't the second time, you know. It happened once twenty years ago as well—so this is the third time. I learned this from a teacher who got me drunk and then coaxed it out of me."
"Back then, twenty-three students went missing. Strange, right? This time, counting yesterday, it's nineteen."
"So, one person survived," Hugh Thompson immediately said.
"I've visited that village a few times—Little Stone Hollow. The older folks around here didn't used to call it that. It was Chenshire. The name was changed twenty-five years ago."
In an instant, I remembered what happened twenty-five years ago in Little Stone Hollow—the story of the name being changed.
"Let me give you an address. Thirteen years ago, that incident was resolved peacefully because a monk visited."
Then Martin Snow wrote down an address on a piece of paper: 073 East Garden Road, Lotus Village.
After getting the address, the four of us decided to go find the monk Martin Snow mentioned that very night. Martin insisted on coming along, looking excited.
It would take about three hours to get there, slow going, since it's on the outskirts of the city.
Along the way, Martin Snow kept asking all sorts of questions, excited like a child.
Hugh Thompson smiled, "If you keep chattering, we'll just toss you out right now."
"Sorry, sorry. It's just that tonight, I finally learned that ghosts really exist—especially that black gas Mr. Zhang released earlier. I'm very interested in it."
"Want to touch it and see?" Hugh Thompson said, while Martin Snow looked at me with keen interest.
"Knock it off." I shouted, and things quieted down.
The car stopped on West Garden Road. Just ahead was Lotus Village. At this hour, the streetlights were on at the village entrance, but inside, there was almost no light. Beyond that was a dirt road, and all around were unfinished buildings.
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"Looks like they're planning to tear down and rebuild this village!"
Sure enough, as soon as we entered the village, we saw lots of construction machinery, equipment, and workers' huts. Every house had the word 'demolish' painted on its wall.
We parked the car on the village road. Zachary Chow led me through the alleys like he knew the place well. Many houses here were made of earth, and the roads were in terrible shape.
After winding through twists and turns, we arrived at a rundown courtyard. Suddenly, a dog started barking behind the door.
"It's me, Master Chow!" Martin Snow called out, knocking on the door. The lights inside came on.
"Come in."
With a creak, the door opened. A rough voice greeted us. The monk was burly, with a thick beard, bare chest, and a string of prayer beads around his neck. He wore a tattered blue-gray robe, and his left arm was missing.
"One from the Hades Circle, one from the Ghost Burial Squad, and one..." Master Chow glanced at me and smiled, reeking of alcohol as he spoke.
"But this little lady is quite pretty, haha."
As he spoke, Master Chow reached for Rachel Lan, who shot him a fierce glare. He laughed heartily, turned away, and kicked the big black dog tied up in the yard.
Inside the house, I was surprised. The nearly collapsing room had only a bamboo mat, a quilt, a table, and a few small stools. There were plenty of wine jugs, and on the table was a half-eaten chicken.
The monk looked to be in his forties, reeking of alcohol and slightly sour.
"Master Chow, can you finally tell us what happened at the school? You always dodged my questions before, but tonight I..."
"Enough, Martin. Be quiet. Looks like that female ghost is even more dangerous this time. Someone from the Hades Circle, someone from the Ghost Burial Squad, and a kid with such heavy Deathbane Aura—what a strange group!"
With that, Master Chow went into the bedroom and brought out a package, slamming it onto the table.
Martin Snow eagerly opened it, but suddenly cried out in shock. We all stared wide-eyed—a skeletal arm with red spots, just like the corpses we'd seen before.
"If I hadn't pitied that female ghost back then and gone soft, I wouldn't have lost an arm. Looks like someone let her out again. Sigh."
Master Chow took a swig from his wine jug, as if recalling some tragic memory from years ago.
"Just remember one thing: don't get marked, or not even the gods can save you." Master Chow pointed at the red spots on the skeletal arm.
That arm was definitely Master Chow's, no doubt about it.
"The scary thing about that female ghost is her ghost soul is special. Don't underestimate her. Back then, I was careless and let her ghost soul invade my arm. I almost died—had to cut it off to survive. I managed to injure her, thought she'd be out of commission for a while, but after just thirteen years, she's back."
Master Chow smiled as he spoke.
"Let me tell you about that female ghost—Helen Chen. It was twenty-five years ago, in Chenshire. Two young lovers ran away together. That's where it all began."
I grunted, found a chair, and sat down—only for the chair to collapse under me. I fell to the floor, clutching my aching backside.
"Kid, you've completely fallen onto the ghost path! My chair is special—if a ghostly being sits, it'll react."
I yelped and looked at Rachel Lan, Hugh Thompson, and Martin Snow. The four of them sat perfectly fine on their black chairs.