The sound of the clock’s second hand ticking away was especially clear in the empty library. Su Nian rubbed her somewhat aching eyes, sent the file, and closed her laptop.
"Finally, it's done!" The words had barely left her mouth when she quickly covered it, almost forgetting she was in the library.
However, at this late hour, besides the drowsy security guard in the surveillance room, there would hardly be anyone in the library. She was not so keen on pulling an all-nighter at the library if it wasn’t for the final deadline of the end-of-semester paper tonight.
The screen flickered, a message from her roommate Lin Jiao—[A-Nian, why haven’t you come back yet?]
Su Nian pressed the elevator button and bowed her head to reply.
[I ended up taking a course from one of the top four professors in the Chemistry Department by mistake... Just finished my paper. I'm struggling before I get "the death sentence".]
Lin Jiao didn't reply anymore. Su Nian lifted her head to seeing the elevator showing no response, it was still stuck on the basement floor.
"Typical, it breaks down at crucial moments." Su Nian complained as she walked towards the stairs.
The school library elevator had broken down more than once. A few days ago her roommate even complained about almost being trapped in it, she wouldn't dare linger.
Although Su Nian wasn't particularly timid, the dim light in the stairwell was spooky no matter how you looked at it.
Su Nian took a deep breath, clenched her fists, quickly descended the stairs, and the copper bell on her backpack jingled crisply.
[Wow, I am impressed, you still dared to go out today!]
[Today... what happened...]
The screen lit up again, Su Nian slowed down her pace, but before she could menstruate, Lin Jiao sent a speechless cartoon emoji. Another sentence popped up on the screen.
[Wow, don't you know? Well, don't leave the screen, there’s a surprise for you in five seconds.]
Su Nian had an ominous presentiment in an instant. Before she could even exit, the cartoon emoji just sent by Lin Jiao instantly turned into a face smeared with fresh blood.
"Ahhh—" Even though she was somewhat prepared, she nearly threw her phone in fright.
[HAHA! Scared you, didn’t I? It’s the Hungry Ghost Festival. Hurry back or you may run into Miss Sadako.]
[The other party doesn't want to talk to you and has overturned your dog bowl.]
Su Nian thought to herself that when she gets back, she must teach Lin Jiao a lesson for knowing her fears and still choosing to scare her. Just then, the sound of "clack clack" high-heeled shoes came from the upstairs.
A chill ran down her spine. Su Nian was already feeling a little spooked, now she wanted to leave even more. Although she didn’t want to pay it any mind, the sound of high heels at this place late at night was indeed terrifying.
Su Nian shrank her shoulders, and plucked up the courage to shout upward, "Fe...fellow student? Do you want to walk together with me?"
Su Nian could only see the stairs layer upon layer. The sound of the high heels was still coming leisurely, and the person did not pause at all.
Su Nian wondered if the other party did not hear her, so she raised her voice again, "Fellow student?"
The footsteps stopped, and the stairwell fell silent. Su Nian could hear her own breathing.
But the person still did not respond. However, the footsteps didn't pause for long before they started again, this time with much more urgency than before.
If Su Nian was just a little afraid before, now, the fear had completely engulfed her.
All kinds of messy thoughts in her head rushed out in an instant. As Lin Jiao had mentioned earlier that today was the Hungry Ghost Festival, Su Nian didn't dare to stay any longer and ran downstairs in panic.
The sound of high heels was not as fast as she was, but inexplicably, it got clearer and clearer.
It seemed like something was getting closer and closer to her...
"Sunny…"
A soft voice floated from behind her.
Sunny wasn't sure whether it was an illusion or not, but she could hear someone calling her name. Regardless, she was too petrified to turn around.
She was genuinely terrified of seeing something she shouldn't. What if it was a blood-soaked face?
"Sunny…"
The voice this time was much clearer, it sounded as though someone was whispering right behind her ear. Chills ran down Sunny’s spine, the voice eerie and filled with an unspeakable resentment. She felt as if she was immersed in the icy waters of winter, the chill rising from her feet.
Having watched her share of horror films, Sunny knew she shouldn’t respond.
Fear lodged in her throat, it left her mute, incapable even of screaming. All she could do was keep running.
Soon, she realized a serious problem…
She had started on the seventh floor of the study room, she had been running down the stairs for so long, she should be on the first floor by now, why hadn’t she reached the bottom?
Sunny looked up, the sign on the wall reads: “Fourth floor”. Gritting her teeth, she rushed to the next floor, only to meet with the number she dreaded the most.
This is… a ghost wall!
"Ah - Save me! Save me..." Sunny could no longer suppress the fear creeping up from within.
She dared not stop, fearing she would really run into a ghost since there was no one else around. She scrambled for her phone and dialed a number, "Pick up the phone! Please, pick up…"
Whether it was because she had run for too long, her steps were growing heavier. It felt like an invisible hand was tugging at her ankles.
Su Nian was almost frantic, yet all she got was a busy tone on the mobile phone. "Anybody...please help me...I don't want to die yet!"
What to do? What to do? Was she going to die here today?
She could barely run anymore. Suddenly, she remembered the jade Buddha around her neck. She had spent a hefty sum on it, and it was supposedly blessed by monks at a temple. She had no other choice but to pin her hopes on it.
Grasping the jade Buddha, Su Nian gritted her teeth and turned around, "Don't...don't come any closer!"
A soft chuckle accompanied by resentfulness drifted into her ears, "Join me..."
The long-haired woman, her body covered in blood, dropped her hair onto the ground. An enticing face turned ghastly pale, and within seconds, blood began to seep out of her eye sockets. Her face distorted into a terrifying mess of skin and flesh, like peeled skin, her bloody nails reached out for Su Nian.
Useless?
It's useless!
Inwardly cursing the jade merchant's ancestors, Su Nian swung her bag wildly. "Don't come any closer! Anybody, please help me...”
Her retreat was abruptly stopped as she backed into something, it wasn't a wall though. Before she could dodge, a pair of powerful hands supported her shoulders.
The woman ghost didn't advance any further. Was she trembling? The ghost seemed scared, taking a step back.
Though fearful, Su Nian couldn't repress her curiosity and looked back in surprise.
It was a young man.
He was a head taller than her and too close. He was still holding her shoulders, meaning Su Nian couldn't turn around fully. She could only see his clearly defined chin.
The ghost woman, not giving up, tried to move closer.
At that moment, Su Nian heard him say a word coldly, casually yet infused with an undeniable ominous tone.
"Scram!"
Everything before her eyes vanished instantly. The female ghost and the spilt blood disappeared without a trace, as though it was all a hallucination, if not for the man's hand still on her shoulder.
