"...Finally arrived."

Seigetsu Zhu muttered to herself.

After leaving the open space, she found herself in a complex maze-like alley, surrounded by tall residential buildings. At first, she felt lost. However, after asking a few nearby residents and passersby, she quickly found her way out.

"I'll definitely be late for class if I go back at this time. After what happened to Teacher Yang, it doesn't really matter anymore. I wonder how the classmates in the class will react when he's not there? Will it be chaotic, or will another tutor from a cram school come to replace him? The school will probably panic because they will soon realize that they can't contact Teacher Yang. On second thought, I never expected that Teacher Yang would be the one..."

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"Ah!"

She couldn't help but exclaim.

Her mind was filled with chaotic thoughts, which almost caused the pensive girl to bump into a telephone pole in front of her.

Seigetsu Zhu stopped and touched her forehead.

In front of her was the road facing the commercial street, and just around the corner was the location of the cram school. She could already hear the bustling crowd from a distance.

She believed that Starry Lin and Sunny Xu would handle this matter well. This trust was not only based on their emotional connection, but also from a rational perspective. The chaotic scene she witnessed in the classroom that night was proof that Teacher Yang was no match for Lin.

In other words, she could finally escape from the shadow of the monster, and she should feel relieved...

But the heavy stone in her heart still hadn't fallen.

Seigetsu Zhu sighed softly.

Could it be that she had been the class monitor for too long and had become accustomed to worrying unnecessarily?

Of course, the most important thing now was that even if she was worried, there was nothing she could do.

Upon careful consideration, did she have a way to help those two?

Call the police? Setting aside whether ordinary people could handle such supernatural events, based on their previous conversations, she felt that those two probably didn't want their secret to be exposed.

Moreover, when Sunny Xu asked her to leave that place, he had already silently expressed his thoughts:

"——Don't interfere."

...Yes, it would be better for her not to interfere.

In the eyes of the people around her, the girl had always been a symbol of unwavering perfection and never made mistakes. As if in response to this, Seigetsu Zhu always forced herself to make what seemed like the right choices.

But if that was really the case, what was this lingering emotion in her heart?

"..."

Seigetsu Zhu's ears twitched slightly.

Before she could sort out her jumbled thoughts, she heard a strange and faint sound coming from behind.

Seigetsu Zhu had just come from that direction, so she knew very well that it was an empty alley.

Was it a rat? Or a plastic bag blown by the wind?

The girl couldn't help but turn her head to look.

Not out of curiosity, but due to some unknown reason, she felt goosebumps all over her body and her hands and feet turned cold.

Behind her was not a rat or a plastic bag.

It was an old man.

The old man was tall and thin, wearing a dark Zhongshan suit, standing upright, giving the impression of a spirited and energetic person.

His hair was gray, his face marked with the traces of time, and he had a smile on his face. It was the kind of benevolent smile that elders give to their juniors. The wrinkles on his face stretched out, making him look quite amiable.

But Seigetsu Zhu was stunned. She had to hold onto the telephone pole next to her to barely support her body and prevent herself from falling down.

—In the deep sockets of the old man's eyes, there were no eyeballs, only two black holes.

He was "staring" at her.

Seigetsu Zhu's thoughts were in chaos.

She suddenly remembered what Xu had said to her that day. He mentioned that it was only after encountering an eyeless old man that Starry Lin and Sunny Xu gained special abilities beyond ordinary people.

But wasn't Sunny Xu supposed to be "living" in that haunted house?

Could it be... he had escaped?

A gust of wind blew through the narrow alley.

It wasn't an ordinary wind, but a gloomy wind that seemed to penetrate into the marrow.

In the silence, the girl could only hear the pounding of her heart in her ears.

The old man took a step forward... no, more accurately, he floated a distance.

Wherever he passed, whether it was the road or the walls, the colors slowly faded and became blurred, as if the light passing through this space had become distorted.

Seigetsu Zhu didn't dare to turn around and run, because her legs had lost their strength, and she didn't know what would happen if she tried to escape. So she could only watch as the figure approached.

And this wasn't even the worst part. A dizziness that came out of nowhere attacked her; pain, intense pain, suddenly surged through her brain like a burning hot pair of tongs, making the girl unable to help but want to scream, but all that came out of her throat was a silent and weak gasp.

Blink.

Her field of vision was on the verge of shattering.

Blink.

Her vision went black, and the surroundings spun.

When she blinked for the third time, the old man had already passed by her and was within arm's reach.

"Hoo..."It was as if someone was leaning on her shoulder, blowing a cold breath into her ear.

The bone-chilling cold spread from her head to her neck and throughout her body.

Zhu Qingyue couldn't hold on any longer.

The girl covered her chest and slowly, weakly collapsed, closing her eyes.

She didn't turn around, but she could feel the old man leaving from behind her, without any intention of staying for a moment.

Perhaps the old man didn't want to kill her, or perhaps the ghost didn't see her as a threat, so it simply ignored her.

However, the impact left by the old man didn't disappear. Witnessing the ghost firsthand made Zhu Qingyue suffer from a severe headache.

The scenery of the real world shattered into countless pieces in front of her eyes, like a mirror falling to the ground. And the dark, real world gradually revealed itself behind the mirror.

It was like facing an underwater iceberg, where people could only see a corner floating on the surface. Only the brave warriors who dared to jump into the sea could feel the vastness beneath the surface.

The false veil was lifted, and the naked, excruciating truth gradually unfolded before her.

Crystal tears uncontrollably slid down the girl's eyes.

"Mom..."

In a blurry consciousness, she softly called out.

Not long after, the girl felt something reaching out from the unseen darkness.

As if being embraced by warm arms, Zhu Qingyue felt a sense of relief and finally lost consciousness completely...

*

A few minutes later.

"Ah ah ah!"

Sunny Xu suddenly opened his eyes wide, gasping for breath.

His limbs flailed about for a while until someone finally held him down.

The soft daylight spilled onto Sunny Xu's pupils.

The light wasn't bright, but it still felt dazzling to him.

This incredibly clear experience was the proof that he had escaped from the "spiritual world" and returned to reality.

He squinted his eyes and rested for a while before daring to open them.

"Are you okay?"

A familiar voice came from above.

He raised his face in a panic, and what came into view was a beautiful face.

It turned out to be Starry Lin, who had put her head on her knees.

Her pitch-black, flowing hair cascaded down, and her fair and beautiful face with well-defined features seemed even more perfect from this distance. Her ink-jade-like eyes were filled with anxiety and unease as they stared straight at him.

It seemed like the second time he had scrutinized his friend from this angle...

Before this thought could fully form in Sunny Xu's mind, it was interrupted by Starry Lin's anxious words.

"What happened to you? Are you going crazy?" The girl's voice was almost on the verge of tears. "I told you not to do such dangerous things. It's someone else's business if they get possessed by monsters, it has nothing to do with you!"

As she said this, Starry Lin saw that Sunny Xu was just staring blankly at her, without any reaction.

She gritted her teeth, made up her mind, and slowly raised one hand.

Only at this moment did Sunny Xu react. He quickly raised his hand to cover his face and said loudly, "Don't hit me!"

"..."

Starry Lin put her hand down and grabbed his collar with joy.

"Are you okay? Are you really okay?"

"I... I'm fine... cough, cough, don't hold on so tightly, I can't breathe," Sunny Xu grabbed the girl's hand to stop her from exerting more force on his neck. "I just woke up... No, I just came back from the 'spiritual' state and haven't fully regained my senses."

"What happened exactly?"

Starry Lin helped him sit up from the ground, feeling a little embarrassed.

Sunny Xu remained silent for a while.

The scenes he had seen during the spiritual communication process appeared in his mind again.

Including the vast and dark human spiritual world, human consciousness, the process of spiritual communication that felt like diving and ascending, and the chilling scene at the end...

Instead of answering immediately, he looked at Teacher Yang.

The strange man lay there quietly, motionless, as if he were dead.

"What's his situation?"

"After you communicated with him, this guy was still grimacing at first, but after a few minutes, he suddenly stopped moving," Starry Lin glanced at the strange man. "I thought you succeeded."

"I... I did succeed," Sunny Xu murmured.

"I found his consciousness within Teacher Yang's body, but..."

When he chose to exit the spiritual communication state, Teacher Yang's consciousness was almost pulled out of the darkness by him. Sunny Xu thought he had succeeded.

But in the end, the him in the spiritual world turned into a horrifying sight, with eyeballs missing and worms crawling out of his eye sockets, as if his whole body had become a nest for worms...

Doesn't that mean Teacher Yang was beyond saving at that time?

What was the result? What exactly happened?

Sunny Xu stared at the strange man lying there quietly, his brows furrowed tightly, repeatedly questioning himself in his heart, but unable to find an answer.

"Did I succeed? Or did I fail? And when Teacher Yang told me 'Don't come near!' at the end, was he warning me about something?"

He pressed his temples hard.His head was still throbbing faintly, indicating that this deep level of spiritual communication was not entirely without side effects.

"So you're saying, you don't know if Teacher Yang's consciousness has been successfully rescued, is that correct?"

"Correct."

"What about the monster?" Starry Lin propped her chin with her hand, asking curiously, "Didn't you say that there might be two consciousnesses existing in this body?"

"I didn't see it." Sunny Xu shook his head, "Moreover, it's hard to say whether that possessing monster even has a 'consciousness'... But, I saw something else!"

At this point, his fist clenched tightly.

"——The old man from the haunted house!"

Sunny Xu turned his face, speaking very seriously to his friend.

"If I'm not mistaken, the reason why Teacher Yang was possessed by the monster is also the doing of the eyeless old man, just like Shi Hui and the others!"

"You saw that old man? Inside Teacher Yang's inner world?"

Starry Lin was stunned for a moment, asking back incredulously.

"Was that a scene you saw in Teacher Yang's memory, or...?"

"I'm afraid not."

Sunny Xu shook his head.

"If it was just a 'memory', it wouldn't be able to harm people, right? But during the spiritual communication just now, I really felt like I was about to be dragged down by him."

If he hadn't interrupted the spiritual communication in time, and his consciousness had fallen into that boundless darkness, what would have happened?

Fall to death? No, of course not, because the spirit is not a flesh and blood body. But if the old man interfered, his consciousness might have been trapped there, unable to return to his own body, leaving behind a soulless self...

He didn't dare to imagine that outcome.

"You're saying, that old man... or at least part of his power, is lurking in Teacher Yang's inner world? If that's the case, he should have noticed your presence as well..."

"Not only that," Sunny Xu added seriously, "This is a plot against us, even the other students in the school, because both Teacher Yang and those thugs are monsters cultivated by the old man from the haunted house!"

Starry Lin let out a soft sigh. There were still traces of sweat on her face and neck, her eyes were quite tired. After a moment of silence, the girl said with a bitter smile.

"That terrifying old man, he shouldn't appear here right away..."

She didn't finish her sentence, and closed her mouth.

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, both Sunny Xu and Starry Lin simultaneously turned their gaze towards the alley entrance.

The old man in the Zhongshan suit was standing there quietly, smiling, his gaze empty as he stared at them. The scenery around the ghost became dark and deep, like a picture cut out from an old newspaper.

This scene was exactly the same as that night.