Eight o’clock at school, its self-study period
Because yesterday he was reading the ghost story on the forum until it was too late, the next day Yang Jian was yawning all day at school, he was lethargic, but whenever he was about to fall asleep in class, he the photo of the old man would pop into his mind, in his drowsy state, he would feel like there was a pair of empty dead eyes staring at him from some corner.
A shiver later, he was awake again.
“I couldn’t fall asleep again, the photo’s got to be cursed.”
“He, Hehe, Yang Jian, come, let’s talk.” A head moves closer, it's a lanky classmate.
Yang Jian wondered what's up, but responded anyway: “Yang Wei? What’s up?”
t/n: Yang Wei has the same pronunciation as erectile dysfunction in Chinese
The student’s name is Zhang Wei, nicknamed Yang Wei, on the first day of school, because his name was right under Yang Jian, the teacher mispronounced his name as Yang Wei, the nickname Yang Wei has accompanied him for three years.
This is a tragedy.
“Hey, no need to quibble man, I saw you yawning all day, you must have fapped too much last night.” Zhang Wei leans on his shoulder, and whispers: “What material did you got your hands on recently, share it with me man, let your pal have some fun.”
Yang Jian says: “Fap my ass, yesterday I was reading a ghost story on my phone, thats why I slept late.”
“Ghost story? Speaking of ghost stories, Yang Wei, Yang Jian, did you guys hear about the paranormal events that happened in a commune a while ago?” A classmate next to them injected himself into their conversation.
“Paranormal events?” Yang Jian replied. “I’ve never heard of this”
Zhang Wei remarked: “I know about this. I’ve heard that in a commune, about twenty people hung themselves in a single night, the bodies were hung on the burglar bars like strips of bacon. Its scary as fuck, I’ve got a picture here, I just don’t know if its real or not.”
After he spoke, he took out his phone, and presented the picture from his gallery.
The photo was taken in the evening, add the fact that the lighting in the commune was bad, so it looked a bit blurry. But you could still spot that from the burglar bars on the balcony were numerous outlines of people densely hung in a row. The appearance of the corpses were barely visible, they were hideous and terrifying, especially their large bulging eyes filled with fear, you could only guess what happened right before they died.
Dozens of corpses looked like bacon left to dry from a distance. What’s weird is that the corpse’s heads were behind the burglar bars, but their bodies were hanging outside of it. The gaps between the bars were nowhere near wide enough for an adult to pass through.
What's more is their heads were bent backwards, looking like they’ve been snapped.
The more you inspected that picture, the more uneasy and frightened you got. It was in a way similar to the picture of the old man wearing a qipao Yang Jian had on his phone, they both aroused your emotions.
“Fuck man, Yang Wei, where did you find this picture? I couldn’t find it anywhere” A student next to him spoke up.
Zhang Wei triumphantly announced: "A friend of mine passed by and took the photo. Now the area’s been barricaded, you can't take photos of it anymore. If you want it, call me daddy. Don’t call me Yang Wei anymore. I recently gave myself an english name."
“What english name?”
“Wo de ji er · ying bang bang”
t/n: 沃德吉爾·英邦邦 is his name, which is pronounced the same as my cock is erect
“Then I also have an english name, its Wo Shishabi, remember to call me that when you meet me out on the streets.”
t/n: 沃仕莎碧 sounds the same as i am a retard, they’re all joking
Yang Jian inquires: “We all took the same education, how are you so much smarter.”
“Yang Jian, we’re all in cram school, you can’t learn this.” Zhang Wei replied with a smirk.
“Speaking of paranormal events, I’ve heard a lot of it on the internet recently, they’re pretty convincing, and some of them are so scary I can’t bring myself to read them, are they really true? There can’t be haunted places right?” A female classmate, Miao Xiaoshan, leaned over and asked.
Yang Jian: “Most things on the internet are fake, unless I see it with my own eyes, I’m not believing in ghosts, but there are somethings that are better to believe in than not, its better to stay away from these kinds of things.”
“That’s fair.” Miao Xiaoshan nodded.
“Stop chatting and be quiet.”
The teacher came into the classroom and loudly declared, “The school has just notified me that the self study lesson today will be changed to a publicity section to promote student’s knowledge of safety and precautions. I don’t want to hear any of you guys talking during this lecture. Alright, now I’ll be inviting Mr. Zhou Zhengzhou to give us the lecture.”
Hm?
Yang Jian joined his classmates in clapping and wondered to himself, why are there still lectures this late?
But when the lecturer Zhou Zheng walked into the classroom, his eyes twitched.
The man called Zhou Zheng wore a gray windbreaker which wrapped around his body tightly, he was also wearing a mask. It was a hot summer night too. In front of his chest was an badge of an unknown organisation.
What really caught everyone's eyes was his scary features, his face was extremely thin, to the point that it was almost only skin and bones, you could even see the shape and contour of his skull, there wasn’t any extra flesh on his face. Also, because of his emaciated visage, his bloodshot eyes looked massive, it seemed he hasn’t slept for days.
But defying his slender look, his stomach was bulging.
Like he was carrying a beer belly full of fat, but you shouldn’t be that skinny if you have a deer belly.
This is weird, abnormally weird, everyone felt uneasy rise from the pits of their stomachs
Zhou Zheng, who was standing on the podium, exuded a dark, haggard and numbing aura, his whole body was stiffened and still, only his bloodshot eyes were turning slightly, like two dull marbles.
Wherever his gaze landed, the students felt an inexplicable sense of fear.
Yang Jian gripped his fists unconsciously, his body tensed up, he didn’t dare meet his gaze, he thought to himself: “This feels worse than looking at that photo.”
“Good Evening class, I’m Zhou Zheng, I’m an interpol, I’m very happy to be here alive and standing to give you a lecture today.”
Zhou Zheng finally spoke, his voice was dry and hoarse, no different from scraping glass against the floor. Combine that with his appearance, people were sufficiently creeped out.
“Alive and standing?”
Yang Jian shuddered, what a strange way to say things.
Zhou Zheng picked up a chalk and turned around to write a scribbled but clear character on the blackboard:
“Apparitions”
"Legends about ghosts have existed since the ancient times, not only in our history, but also in various other countries. My historical knowledge isn’t the best. And I can't tell you ancient history, so I'll just list some major events i know of in the recent decade: "The Louvre Museum Incident in France, The Haunted Mansion in America, Cursed Shadow in the parking lot in Japan, the Egyptian Pharaoh's curse... and the Village of Sealed Doors right here in China"
t/n: the names are way better in Chinese, 法國盧浮宮事件，米國別墅幽靈事件，島國停車場鬼影事件，埃及法老詛咒事件......以及我國的封門村事件
Zhou Zheng's voice was as coarse as ever, but his pace was calm, "It has been said before that, at the end of science is theology, and that's correct, students, there are some things you have to believe now. In recent years, paranormal events have been occurring all over the world at an exponential rate, it's no longer a matter of individual events, it's already evolving into a global disaster, if this situation is not effectively controlled, in the future… no, maybe there won't be no future anymore.”
Everyone was slightly surprised by what he said.
Isn't this a lesson on public safety? When did this turn into the horror convention? He’s even going so far as to predict the end of the world.
Not only students, but the teacher was also taken back by what he was saying.
"I can’t talk more about this aspect. So don’t ask any questions. Please pay close attention to what I have to say next. As this safety seminar may save your lives in the future."
Zhou Zheng stops speaking and turns again to writing on the blackboard, “Apparitions cannot be killed.”
"In the near future, you may encounter situations that you never wish to, such as... coming into contact with apparitions. Although this may be discouraging, please keep in mind what I just said. Apparitions cannot be killed, so even if you are fearing for your life, don’t think about risking your life to fight these things, because your life isn’t even worth mentioning in front of them. Those things killing you is like trampling on ants. No, it's even easier. Maybe just a blink of its eyes, a snap of its fingers, and all of you are done for."
He stared at everyone with his haggard and bloodshot eyes, he was serious. Then he turned around and wrote the second sentence on the blackboard.
“Only apparitions can deal with apparitions."
Zhou Zheng spoke again: "If the apparitions can't be killed, it means that technological power possessed by various nations are all useless. No matter whether it is religion, spells, bombs, or even nuclear weapons, they’re all useless. If scientists cannot decipher what "ghosts" really are, for now, there is only one way to deal with apparitions is with other apparitions. I know you have doubts in your mind. Some of you might even think that I am mentally ill, but that does not matter. The important thing is that you listen to me and keep what I said in your mind. It will be of use to you in the future."
"Of course, I do hope you will never use it."
"Yang Jian, what is this guy on about? Why can't I understand him?" Zhang Wei whispered.
Yang Jian said: "I don't understand either, but I feel a little uneasy cause of what he said."
"Could it be that the earth has changed? Like in the webnovels?" Zhang Wei asked.
"It can’t be right..." Yang Jian was a bit hesitant.
Although he’s also imagined the existence of xianxia and superpowers, if these things really did exist, he would feel a sense of panic. After all, these things are a huge threat to ordinary people like himself.
Zhou Zheng continued again: "Since apparitions can't be killed and also possess extraordinary abilities, combining these two situations, a question can be raised. If ordinary people were to be targeted by apparitions, what can they do to survive? This is my main point. I hope you will keep this in mind forever, preferably for a lifetime."
After speaking, he turned around and wrote the third sentence: Discern the rules of appiritions.
"Everything follows discernible rules, apparitions are no exception. According to research data, every apparition has an almost fixed rule for murder and movements, they’re just like a computer, it can only run it if its power button is pressed. You can run computer programs with a click, so overcome your fear, and discern the rules a apparition follows, and find its flaws. This is the only chance ordinary people have to survive while being targeted by apparitions."
"Remember, if you are targeted by an apparition, there is no other way for you to survive. Don't take a chance in your luck. These things are fearsome beyond your imagination."
He repeated what he said solemnly.