"Then what happened?" I asked next. "At eleven o'clock, we all coincidentally wanted to leave the hotel. The whole process felt like it had been clearly arranged by someone. However, at that time, none of us felt a sense of crisis, myself included. When Xu Xiyue reached this point, she paused, and I added, 'Didn't you feel that something was off in the private room at the hotel?' Logically speaking, the chances of a hotel or KTV being haunted are low, as these places are designed with feng shui in mind. But if someone had made arrangements in advance, it's entirely possible that there was someone watching us from a corner while we toasted and drank. Xu Xiyue shook her head, saying, 'I carried a protective charm with me. Even if I couldn't sense the presence of any spirits, the charm would alert me. But that night, even the charm didn't make a sound.' I nodded, saying, 'Go on!' Xu Xiyue continued, 'After we left the hotel, we couldn't get a taxi no matter what! I watched as several empty cars drove past us, but the drivers seemed not to see us waving and wouldn't stop at all.' At first, I thought the drivers were refusing to pick us up, but when I saw a taxi drive closely beside me, I realized something was wrong—when that car passed by, I clearly saw that the driver's eyes were covered by a pair of hands. Those drivers were blinded by spirits, which is why they couldn't see us. When I turned to look at the classmates trying to hail a ride, I saw someone reach out a hand from behind them, covering the screen of their phone. I couldn't see who was behind them and didn't dare to look. I could only lower my head and wait for them to speak. Wang Manman exclaimed in shock, 'Xiyue, you had already seen the spirits at that time, why didn't you tell us?' I explained for Xu Xiyue, 'What she did then was correct. When you see a spirit, if you're not sure you can deal with it or send it away, it's best to act as if you didn't see it. Never think that just calling out will scare the spirit away; if you startle it and it fixes its gaze on you, you won't have time to cry.' 'In the art of spirit dealing, the saying "do not startle the spirits or offend the gods" means just that.'"
I looked at Zhou Xiyue and said, "Miss Zhou, please continue." Zhou Xiyue went on, "When I came out of the Tianhao Hotel, there were intersections on both sides, and only the road across was safe. I originally wanted to remind those classmates to be careful crossing the street. But when I looked up, I noticed that under every traffic light across the street stood a person dressed in a funeral shroud." "There were five of them in total, guarding five traffic lights, standing completely still. Even though there was a road separating us, I felt like their eyes were following us as we moved." I had heard my grandmother mention that this was the Five Ghosts Blocking the Road. When encountering such a situation, it meant that spirits were forcing the living to do something. If you didn't complete that task, they wouldn't let you leave until you did. If you really faced the Five Ghosts Blocking the Road, as long as they didn't make you do something that would result in immediate death, you should quickly agree to their demands and wait until dawn to seek help from an expert. I saw that the five ghosts across the street also didn't dare to make a sound and followed those classmates toward the intersection. When we reached the intersection, we spotted a person wearing a white hat handing out flyers. You shouldn't wear red in a coffin shop or bring white to an intersection. When the Five Ghosts Block the Road, that person standing at the intersection with a white hat must be a ghost trying to stop us. I was just about to warn the classmates in front of me when my classmate Xiao Yang ran over to that person: "It's already eleven o'clock, still handing out flyers, that's tough. Let me help you distribute them." Xiao Yang directly took the flyers and started handing them out to each of us. As soon as we received the flyers, the ghosts guarding the opposite side disappeared, and empty cars began to appear nearby. I pulled Manman into a car and saw that the flyer in my hand had transformed into that old-fashioned red and blue paper, with the words "Five days later, Datong Department Store will officially open, welcome to visit" written on it. I knew that the Datong Department Store was the place the spirits wanted us to go, and the flyer we held had turned into a death warrant; we had no choice but to go. Before I even got home, the alumni group exploded with messages, everyone was asking about the flyers. A person named "Xiao Wang" also spoke in the group: he said he had received a flyer too. The spirits were making us buy something for them; as long as we followed what was written on the flyer and went to buy something on the opening day of Datong Department Store, we could burn it at the intersection and everything would be fine. The classmates in the group began questioning Xiao Wang about the flyer, and later one of them said, "He's not one of us; there's an extra person in the group." At that moment, we realized that Xiao Wang had somehow entered our group without us noticing. Xiao Wang said, "I'm doing this out of necessity. You must remember to go to Datong Department Store to buy something. Otherwise, someone will really die. When you go there, someone will approach you and tell you what to buy."
After he finished speaking, he logged off, and no matter how much we called for him, there was no response. Some classmates searched online for Datong Department Store and found out that the so-called Datong Department Store was indeed a haunted building! That department store was sealed off before the founding of the country because many people died there, and it has remained abandoned in the suburbs ever since. Zhou Xiyue said, "I also looked up information about Datong Department Store; it's a place that breeds evil spirits!" Many people think that a house where someone has died is a haunted house. If you think that way, you are mistaken. A place where a murder has occurred, and where the deceased's soul lingers, is not necessarily considered a haunted house by practitioners of the supernatural. A true haunted house must be built in a location that can "nurture evil," which is referred to in feng shui as a place of calamity or misfortune. Such locations are inherently prone to evil spirits, and if someone unjustly dies there, the lingering resentment will surely transform into a vengeful ghost. A vengeful spirit, blinded by its rage, will not reason with anyone; as soon as someone steps into its territory, they will either meet their end or be confronted by the ghost. Zhou Xiyue said, "I kept reassuring the classmates who were attending the gathering. At first, they all said it was a prank and were adamantly against going to Datong Department Store, but after two days, they all started messaging me privately, asking: If we don't go, will there be danger?" I could only tell them: It's better to go and take a look. I also asked, "So did you all end up going to Datong Department Store?" "We did!" Zhou Xiyue replied. "We agreed in the group to go to Datong Department Store together. That day, it was Manman driving, and besides me, there was also our classmate Xiao Yang in the car." "It was snowing heavily that day, and as we drove along a forest road, we saw an old lady standing by the side of the road, dressed in black and covered in snow." "Xiao Yang couldn't bear to leave her there and wanted to give her a ride, and at that moment, Manman slowed down the car. But I felt that the old lady was not alive, so I urged Manman to hurry and leave. Manman knew that my intuition was strong, so she stepped on the gas and drove past the old lady." "Because of this incident, Xiao Yang got angry with us, saying we lacked compassion. Just as I was about to explain to him, I saw that old lady appear again by the roadside. This time, Manman was scared too and, without me saying anything, quickly drove past." "But Xiao Yang seemed to be possessed, insisting on getting out of the car to bring the old lady with him. I knew he had encountered a ghost." When Zhou Xiyue talked about the old lady, Wang Manman beside her unconsciously tightened her grip on her clothes, seemingly terrified by that memory. Zhou Xiyue continued, "At that moment, Xiao Yang was like a madman, cursing at both of us in the car, insisting on getting out to take her. I didn't dare to explain anything to him and could only keep calming him down."
Zhou Xiyue's approach was correct; when encountering strange people standing by the road in the dead of night, one must never stop to talk to them and should find every possible way to shake them off. Especially when you're about to get away, if you see them waving at you from behind, never go back. Taking even one step back means you can never return. Zhou Xiyue said, "While I was talking to Xiao Yang, he suddenly opened the car door and jumped out. I saw him fall into a snowbank by the road, and just as I was about to call out to him, he crawled into the woods by the roadside like a wolf, running for more than ten meters before turning around and squatting in the snow like a dog, staring at us." Wang Manman added, "At that time, his eyes were still shining with a green light." After nodding, Zhou Xiyue continued, "Manman and I were both terrified. We wanted to find him but didn't dare to get out of the car, so we could only sit inside and shout his name desperately. He just squatted there, completely still." "I knew this wasn't a solution, so I wanted to discuss with Manman about getting out of the car to save him. But as soon as I turned my head, I saw that old lady standing by the car, lowering her head and knocking on the window." "Manman was so scared that she pressed the gas pedal hard, but the car was like it was stuck in the snow; the wheels were spinning loudly, but it couldn't move at all!" "At that moment, the car window opened by itself, and the old lady handed in a red envelope, saying, 'Take this, you might need it.' Neither of us dared to take the envelope, but she threw it into the car. As soon as the envelope landed, the car suddenly started moving. At that time, Manman pressed the gas too hard, and the car shot forward, almost crashing into a tree by the roadside." "After we finally managed to stabilize the car and wanted to turn around to look for Xiao Yang, we saw that the road behind us had vanished. Behind the car was only the old lady who had given us the red envelope, and behind her was a vast expanse of white mist." "The old lady stood there, waving at us insistently, as if urging us to leave quickly." "I knew there was no way to turn back, but we couldn't just drive forward on that road either. Because I couldn't be sure if the remaining road was a path of the living or a path of the dead. In desperation, I took out the protective bell my grandmother had given me and had Manman drive in the direction indicated by the bell. We drove for half an hour before our car finally stopped at a place where we still couldn't see that forest road." "At that moment, I didn't even know if we had gone in circles in the woods or if we had never entered at all." "I was just about to look back to see if Xiao Yang was still nearby when I saw that old lady standing at the entrance of the woods, waving at us again. Manman and I were so scared that we quickly started the car and drove back to the city in one go." As Zhou Xiyue spoke, her body trembled slightly, and she looked visibly shaken, clearly still frightened.