The office building was a three-story structure, housing the school's public lecture hall, computer lab, broadcast room, laboratories, and, of course, the administrative offices.
On the second floor was the dean's office.
The narrow, semi-open corridor provided a view of the students below. The floor was thick with dust and scattered with leaves, as if it hadn't been cleaned in ages.
"Lin Black Dog... Are you sure we're going to lie in wait here?"
Wang Qian shivered. The eerie atmosphere made his skin crawl, and the sounds of movement coming from the adjacent biology lab didn't help. Ghost hunters like him detested such places heavy with sinister energy, as the chances of encountering malevolent spirits were far too high.
"Lie in wait? Fatty, there are 27 teams of challengers, and even if every other team only has one person, that's still 26 people. Even if only 10 make it to the third stage, we wouldn't stand a chance against them," Lin Feng said, curling his lip. Just taking down the bearded guy had been a struggle, not to mention the equally formidable man with peach-blossom eyes. Lying in wait was more like picking scraps—they were the scraps right now.
"Then why are we here?" Wang Qian, though clever, often lacked cunning. Seeing Lin Feng grinning mischievously, he couldn't help but grow suspicious.
Lin Feng didn't reply. The three of them arrived at the door to the dean's office. It was locked tight, with a full-length mirror standing beside it.
"Lin Feng... there's someone in the mirror!"
Nie Chuxia glanced at the mirror and instinctively took a step back.
Lin Feng cast a glance at the mirror. Reflected within were three figures: two men and a woman, middle-aged, stern-faced, with bluish lips and pinprick-sized pupils. They were sneering at them.
"Three ghosts," Lin Feng remarked.
Mirrors often served as vessels for malevolent forces. In a place like this, who knew what dangers were hidden within? The three ghosts in the mirror didn't look friendly. Wang Qian picked up a mop handle nearby, intending to smash the mirror, but Lin Feng stopped him.
Clearing his throat, Lin Feng formally knocked on the office door. "Excuse me, is anyone in there?"
No answer came from inside.
Sniffing the air, Lin Feng smirked and kicked the door open.
A wave of putrid stench hit them. Lin Feng had prepared for this, holding his breath as the foul odor burst forth.
"A corpse demon?"
Wang Qian quickly slapped a Purification Talisman on himself and Nie Chuxia.
The talisman shielded them from the corpse demon's influence, but the stench was unbearable. After retching at the doorway, they regained their composure and saw three corpses hanging from the ceiling, long decayed.
The room was filled with cobwebs. On the desk sat an old computer, and behind it, a terrifying middle-aged man. Half his face was rotted away, his shabby suit tattered. His bloated belly writhed as if something inside was moving.
Lin Feng entered the room. The corpse demon seemed unfazed by his presence. Ignoring the swinging bodies above, Lin Feng greeted him with a smile: "Ma Chuan, so it is you."
Ma Chuan had been Lin Feng's strict and greedy dean of discipline. After Lin Feng dropped out of school, he'd heard Ma had died of a stroke. Six years later, to encounter him here in this eerie map was beyond expectation.
Ma Chuan didn't recognize Lin Feng but could tell Lin knew him. Smirking sinisterly, he said, "A living human? Coming here—do you have a death wish?"
His arm suddenly stretched unnaturally long, grabbing Lin Feng by the neck and pulling him close. Lin Feng's neck bore five bloody scratches.
Choking, Lin Feng's eyes bulged as he rasped, "Can't we just have a peaceful chat?"
Wang Qian activated a Diamond Talisman and prepared a Fire Dragon Talisman, while Nie Chuxia summoned a guardian spirit, General Huang Ji, wielding a golden lantern.
"Let him go! What do you want?"
Their shock was evident. This was no ordinary ghost—it was a fierce ghost!
Ma Chuan, wary of the talismans and the golden-armored general, loosened his grip slightly.
Gasping for air, Lin Feng said, "Ma Chuan, how about I give you something in exchange for a favor?"
His companions were stunned, ceasing their attacks at Lin Feng's gesture. They couldn't believe their ears. A ghost hunter making deals with a ghost? It shattered their worldview.
Nie Chuxia, already accustomed to Lin Feng's unorthodox ways, felt only mild surprise. She figured Lin Feng could do something even crazier, like offering the ghost a bride.
Ma Chuan hesitated, intrigued. Ghosts of his level were acutely aware of their own deaths and the divide between themselves and the living. What was this young man scheming?
Lin Feng rubbed his neck, then placed several stacks of hell money, paper gold ingots, and ceremonial incense on the desk.
Ma Chuan's eyes gleamed with greed as he sniffed the offerings. "What's this? A bribe?"
"Of course," Lin Feng admitted. "This is just a deposit. From what I've seen, you've taken care of your predecessors pretty thoroughly. Why not aim higher and deal with the one above you?"
He pointed toward the third floor.
Ma Chuan's expression darkened. "Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about. Do you have a death wish?"
The third floor was where the principal's office was located.
Lin Feng chuckled. "You were ruthless and greedy in life, a snake willing to do anything for power. Don't act noble in death. Since we've crossed paths, consider it fate. These offerings will help you grow stronger, and only I can provide them. Do me a favor, and I'll double the payment afterward. Deal?"
Wang Qian and Nie Chuxia exchanged bewildered looks, feeling both helpless and exasperated at Lin Feng's audacity.
Ma Chuan tested the hell money, watching it turn to ash and release a surge of pure yin energy. The quality was far better than the ambient energy in the school.
"What do you want me to do?" Ma Chuan asked warily.
"Just deal with a few ghosts who've wandered into the school," Lin Feng said, lighting a cigarette. Suddenly, his companion, Niu Meng, appeared—a towering figure exuding natural authority. The sight of the bull-headed spirit sent a chill through Ma Chuan.
Recognizing the insignia on Niu Meng's waist as some form of high-ranking token, Ma Chuan felt an oppressive weight pressing down on him. It was clear Lin Feng had more cards up his sleeve than he let on.
"I can't accept your terms," Ma Chuan finally said. "There are two extremely powerful presences in the school, stronger than me. There are also several others just a notch below. I can't risk my existence for such a small reward."
Lin Feng nodded, realizing Ma Chuan was referring to the bearded man and the peach-blossom-eyed figure, likely joined by others from the three major sects.
As Lin Feng pondered, the school's intercom crackled to life.
"The third challenge begins now. Participating teams are as follows…"
As expected, Lin Feng's team wasn't listed.
An idea sparked in his mind. He grinned and said, "Send a student to the broadcast room and announce that human skins have been found near the teaching building and back gate. Scatter them."
"Human skins?"
Ma Chuan was puzzled. Seeing Lin Feng's confident demeanor and the glint of calculation in his eyes, he asked, "Kid, you'd better explain. What do you mean by 'challengers'? Why is something like this happening in our school?"
Lin Feng exhaled a smoke ring and replied, "It means they're here to wipe all of you out, and the three of us are here to wipe them out. In a way, that makes us comrades in the same trap. Get it?"
Wang Qian and Nie Chuxia lowered their heads deeply, feeling utterly ashamed of Lin Feng's shamelessness in deceiving a ghost.