"He he... I haven't even started telling you how I died, why are you all running?" The cold voice echoed in the dark classroom, as if invisible hands were choking everyone's throats, and the air froze in an instant.
"Stop joking around, alright?" Liu Bin, sitting in the corner, said trembling, his voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, "This is boring..."
Before he could finish, a piercing scream rang out. I turned my head and saw it was Xiao Xiang! Her face was filled with terror, her hands covering her mouth, as if she had just seen the most horrifying thing in her life.
The next second, chaos erupted in the classroom! Screams, cries, and the sounds of chairs falling over mixed together as everyone scrambled for the door. But just then—
Bang! The door slammed shut on its own, and the lights went out, plunging the classroom into pitch black darkness.
The noise around me was overwhelming—people were bumping into chairs, falling to the ground, and someone grabbed my pant leg, almost making me trip. As for the few boys, they were so scared they had crawled under the desks, their heavy breathing sounding unnaturally loud.
"Xiao Xiang! Where are you?" I called out in as calm a voice as I could muster.
"I'm here, woo woo... come quickly!" Xiao Xiang's voice came from somewhere nearby. My heart tightened, and I followed the sound, but just as I reached out and touched a hand, a huge force threw me back.
"Ah! A ghost!" That familiar voice made it clear it was Xiao Xiang's deskmate—the 180-pound "strong girl" who usually acted as a human shield for Xiao Xiang.
"This girl... is her strength from muscle supplements?" I muttered as I was thrown in another direction, colliding with Xiao Xiang.
"Don't be afraid, it's me!" I quickly grabbed Xiao Xiang's cold hand and whispered to comfort her.
"Zhang Zheng... don't let go, woo woo..." Her voice trembled, and she clung to my hand tightly, pressing her whole body against mine. Um, feeling her soft body made my heart flutter, but the fear soon overwhelmed me.
"Shut up, all of you! Let me tell the story, or I'll tear you all apart!" The cold voice rang out again, this time with more authority, silencing all the chaos instantly.
The classroom fell dead silent, not even the sound of breathing could be heard. I helped Xiao Xiang crouch down slowly, forcing myself to calm down, but my mind raced, "What does this female ghost want? She's not going to kill us after telling the story, right?"
She let out a chilling laugh, her voice full of indescribable resentment: "I'm Feng Lan. You all should know me. I was the campus beauty from last year. Who hasn't seen me?"
Feng Lan... the girl who hung herself in the southwest corner of the school a year ago?! My scalp went numb, and my hairs stood on end.
"I only died a year ago, and yet you've already forgotten me?" Her voice was filled with sorrow, "It's so unfair, I died unjustly!"
Xiao Xiang's hand started trembling violently, and she pressed even harder against me. My heart was a mess. Though being held by this goddess made me feel a bit elated, the bigger issue was—what does this female ghost want?
"Bro, what's with the dazed look? Are you listening to the story so seriously?" The voice of Yan Xiao Ning suddenly echoed in my mind, filled with mockery.
"You're still coming out!" I whispered furiously, "Hurry up and drive this female ghost away!"
"Hmph, if I weren't inside you, she wouldn't even have the power to rip me apart," Yan Xiao Ning said lazily. "But right now... I'm powerless."
"Are you useless or not?!" I was about to lose it.
"I have two ways for you," she chuckled. "First, you handle it yourself. Second, I can teach you to summon a 'Pen Fairy' to help."
"Pen Fairy?" My heart sank instantly when I heard those two words. Summoning spirits is easy, but getting rid of them is another matter. The school was already full of terrifying stories about summoning Pen Fairies—things like people not being able to handle it afterward, causing endless misfortune for their entire dormitory.
"Pick one. Don't dawdle," Yan Xiao Ning clearly wasn't going to give me much time, "But I should warn you—if the Pen Fairy goes wrong, your life will be ten times worse than it is now."
My heart clenched, and I wanted to yell at her, but I dared not. I forced myself to ask, "Is there another way?"
"Yes," she said indifferently, "Learn Maoshan magic. Once you succeed, come back and solve it."
I: "..."
Just then, Feng Lan's voice rang out again: "Do you want to know why I died so unjustly?" Her tone was filled with hatred, piercing through the eardrums, "I was pregnant with a four-month-old child!"
Her final words were chilling, and her cries echoed through the classroom. I froze, not knowing what to do. At that moment, Xiao Xiang whispered in my ear: "Zhang Zheng... what should we do?"
I squeezed her hand tightly and suppressed the fear in my heart, saying softly, "Don't be afraid, I'm here..." But even as I said that, I didn't believe it myself.
"Time is running out, choose a method," Yan Xiao Ning urged, her tone no longer negotiable.