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墨書 Inktalez
As soon as Li Zhisheng sat down, he asked me, "Hey? Where's Hu Fang?" I poured them both a glass of water and replied, "I called her after you, so she should be here soon."
"Wow, everyone's here!" Just as I said that, Hu Fang walked up to the table, grabbed a cup of tea, and downed it in one go. "Hey, that's mine..." I tried to stop her, but it was too late. She set the cup down and said, "This is the person you wanted." With that, she pulled over a young man who had been following her. He was short and wore glasses, looking rather timid. It seemed he wasn't there by choice; Hu Fang must have dragged him along because she couldn't find anyone else.
After we finished eating, we chatted a bit to get to know each other and briefly introduced the purpose of our gathering. However, Tang Qian hardly spoke at all. I couldn't tell if it was because he was shy or simply didn't want to interact with us. I glanced at my watch; it was almost nine o'clock, so I settled the bill and led everyone toward City No. 7 Middle School.
Since one car couldn't fit us all, we took two taxis. After about forty minutes of driving, we finally arrived. As soon as Tang Qian got out of the car, he complained, "Why are we coming to this dump? It's just a game. What's the difference? We're just scaring ourselves." Hu Fang chuckled and teased him, "Just don't wet your pants when you're scared!" Tang Qian merely scoffed in response and fell silent.
I led them into the school. I asked Li Zhisheng, "Haven't you read some books on Qimen Dunjia? You must have some understanding of astrology and divination?" Li Zhisheng nodded and replied, "I wouldn't say I understand much; just a little."
I pointed to the two teaching buildings on either side: "Can you tell if there's anything strange about these two buildings?" Hu Fang leaned in closer when she heard my question: "Yeah, take a look and see if there's anything odd. Earlier today with Shen Xu..." I made a shushing gesture to interrupt her before she could continue.
Li Zhisheng didn't seem inclined to chat further; he just carefully surveyed his surroundings, occasionally glancing up. After observing for a while, he said to me, "I don't feel anything unusual about this place; however, the star alignment is off. The appearance of the Death Gate indicates that ghostly energy is present. This might not be a good omen..." He frowned slightly.
Qiangzi laughed at Li Zhisheng's comment: "What year is it? You're still into this stuff; it's so superstitious." Kang Qian chimed in with a murmur of agreement.
I ignored their remarks and continued asking Li Zhisheng, "So does that mean tonight is dangerous? Is it not suitable?" He pondered for a moment before replying, "Not entirely; life has its own fate. If you want to see ghosts, tonight might actually be the best opportunity."
Feeling reassured by his words and noticing that the moon was high in the sky, I began explaining the rules of the game to them. "This game originally came from an incident in the snowy mountains invented by several unfortunate explorers. The rules are simple: in an empty square room, everyone stands in a corner facing the wall. One extra person starts moving and can choose any corner person to tap on the shoulder before taking their place. The tapped person then follows along the wall to the next corner in the same manner."
After finishing my explanation, I asked, "Any questions?" Li Zhisheng thought for a moment before adding, "Let me clarify: movement can only be clockwise or counterclockwise; those who haven't been tapped must remain where they are. Once the game starts, no one can look back or communicate with each other. If anyone notices something unusual during playtime, they cannot stop until everything returns to normal; otherwise, not only will they endanger themselves but could also put others at risk."
Hu Fang jumped in eagerly after hearing this: "It doesn't sound too difficult; it sounds fun! I'm going upstairs to find a room." She turned and headed toward the teaching building on the right. "Wait! Let's go together," I called out as I hurried after her. The others followed suit.
Since this school had been abandoned for quite some time and there was no electricity left, everyone had to pull out their phones for light as we climbed upstairs. We reached the fourth floor when Tang Qian started complaining again from behind us: "Wasn't it fine on the first floor? Why do we have to go all the way up here?" I glanced at Hu Fang leading us ahead and sighed, "You'll have to ask your sister about that."
As they spoke, everyone had already reached the fourth floor. The staircase was conveniently located in the middle of the building, with two classrooms on each side. Hu Fang chose the leftmost room and dashed inside. I hurriedly called out from behind, "Slow down!" and followed her in.
When I reached the doorway, I found her holding a video camera, looking around. Curiously, I asked, "What are you doing?" She shook the camera slightly and replied, "Looking for a place to put this thing." I glanced around and noted, "The windowsills are all filled with iron bars; there's no place to set it down. You might as well put it on the floor."
She seemed to cherish that camera and was reluctant to place it on the ground. Hearing my suggestion, she reluctantly packed it into her bag with a hint of disappointment. Soon after, the others began to enter as well.
I checked the time; it was nearing midnight. I addressed everyone, "Since we all understand the rules now, who wants to go first?" Qiangzi volunteered, "I'll go first." I hesitated for a moment before saying, "That's fine, but just one thing: be gentle when filming people."
Upon hearing this, Qiangzi scratched his head and smiled, "Okay." The remaining people each chose a corner of the room. I stood in the upper left corner, Tang Qian took the lower left corner, Hu Fang positioned herself in the upper right corner, while Li Zhisheng settled in the lower right corner. Qiangzi stood in the center of the room.
Seeing that everyone was ready, I instructed them to turn off their phone lights. I warned them once more, "From now on, no matter what happens, everyone must face the wall. No matter what you hear, do not turn around or talk." With that, I signaled Qiangzi to begin.
Since I was the last to speak, Qiangzi identified my position and walked over to tap my shoulder. As soon as I felt it, I turned and walked towards my left—where Tang Qian was standing.
The surroundings were pitch black; I could barely see my own hands. Fortunately, there were no obstacles on the floor. I felt my way along the wall until I reached the next corner. Just as I was about to bump into Tang Qian, I spotted him and tapped his shoulder.
He understood and turned to continue moving left while I remained in his corner. The silence enveloped us; aside from faint sounds of movement nearby, there was nothing else.
After a moment, I vaguely heard footsteps stop—it must have been Tang Qian reaching Li Zhisheng's position. Then footsteps resumed; it seemed Li Zhisheng was now moving. He wore leather shoes that made his steps easily distinguishable.
After a while, the sound of high heels echoed through the room. There was only one female present; it didn't take much thought to realize that Hu Fang must be wearing them. Meanwhile, Tang Qian, Qiangzi, and I were all in sneakers which made little noise.
The surrounding silence combined with the darkness easily created an illusion of being in an abyss. Each sound of Hu Fang's heels hitting the ground sent a shiver through me. But soon enough, those sounds abruptly ceased.
Then came the sound of sneakers crunching against dust again. With each alternating sound, my nerves tightened further. Memories of Hu Fang transforming into a Vengeful Spirit flooded my mind. Uncertainty about what lay ahead mixed with tension, curiosity, and fear created a sense of anxiety within me. My palms began to sweat involuntarily as I clenched my fists, waiting for Qiangzi to appear behind me.
I felt the footsteps behind me getting closer and closer, and soon they stopped right behind me. Qiangzi tapped me on the shoulder, and even though I was prepared for it, I still jumped slightly in surprise. I didn't turn to look at Qiangzi, just shifted my body and continued walking to the left.
I walked through four corners in succession. At this point, I should have returned to the corner where I initially stood. In such darkness, time felt exceptionally long. However, since nothing unusual had happened, everything seemed quite ordinary, even a bit boring; some people even started yawning.
At that moment, I heard the sound of high heels stop once again. Ming Hufang had reached the position where Qiangzi was standing, and soon it would be my turn again.
I patiently stood in place waiting. Feeling a bit bored, I began counting my steps. "One... one... just as I reached one, Qiangzi tapped my shoulder.
I turned and continued walking, thinking to myself, "It takes exactly thirteen steps to walk from one corner to another. Doesn't thirteen signify death?" Just as I pondered this, I found myself unknowingly approaching the corner where Tang Qian was supposed to be.
As I neared the corner, I froze. All four corners were supposed to be occupied, but now one corner was empty. "Where did Tang Qian go? Did he sneak away? That can't be possible; if he slipped away unnoticed, no one would have tapped Li Zhisheng. The game would come to a halt. Or maybe he tapped Li Zhisheng and then snuck away to play a prank on us? Hmm, that's quite possible!"
Although I felt a bit flustered at first upon seeing an empty corner, after some thought, it seemed likely that it was Tang Qian's prank. "But now that we’ve lost one person, the game can't just end here. If this isn't Tang Qian's prank and we end up stopping here, he might never come back!" With that thought in mind, I began to feel increasingly anxious.
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