At 9 p.m., evening self-study ended.
The students had already left the classroom, leaving only the players sitting inside, warily watching the corridor through the classroom windows. The faint glow of the corridor lights revealed the silhouette of the dean standing outside.
Pei Yongyong swallowed nervously and couldn’t help but ask, “What is she doing out there?”
“Maybe she’s waiting for us to break the school rules so she can catch us red-handed.”
“But the class is already over. Rest time doesn’t start until ten. During this time, she technically has no authority to punish students.”
No one could figure out what the director intended, but her fearsome reputation kept them from daring to step out of the classroom.
Ji Linfan’s partner, his face drawn with worry, asked, “Old Ji, what do we do now?”
“How about you go out and ask her?” Ji Linfan suggested.
His partner shot back, “Are you insane?”
The others fell silent.
Chai Yingying, leaning against the window, peeked outside for a moment before turning around and asking, “Eldest Miss, what do you think?”
Gu Jiu stood with her arms crossed, her expression thoughtful as her gaze snapped to the clock hanging above the blackboard.
The clock emitted a faint ticking sound—one that was gradually speeding up.
“The classroom’s time is about to accelerate. We need to leave,” Gu Jiu warned, her heart sinking as she speculated on the director’s intentions.
“What?”
Everyone jumped to their feet, panic-stricken as they stared at the clock. Memories of the fourth night resurfaced: time in the classroom had suddenly leaped forward by centuries, and everything inside had been consumed by time’s erosion. If they remained, their bodies would age, decay, and perish alongside the accelerating time.
Just as they moved to leave, the dean appeared outside the classroom.
She stood silently by the window, her pale face twisted into an eerie smile—one filled with excitement, joy, and bone-chilling malice.
The players finally understood her intention.
She wanted to use the classroom to kill them.
“W-Why?” They could hardly believe it. They hadn’t even broken any school rules yet.
The director was powerful, but even in this haunted school at night, as a dean, she had to abide by certain rules.
“Probably because we’re a disruptive presence in this school,” Ji Linfan said, adjusting his glasses. “Over the past few nights, we’ve repeatedly broken school regulations. She can’t tolerate us.”
So, she was using the rules against them, aiming to trap and eliminate the players.
Ji Linfan’s explanation left everyone in disbelief.
Chai Yingying sighed in exasperation. “Even if she doesn’t like us breaking the rules, isn’t this a bit much? She’s outright trying to kill us? That’s brutal!”
Pei Yongyong, her face pale, muttered, “She’s a ghost. If ghosts aren’t brutal, who is?”
“I still don’t get it. She could just lock us up or tear us apart, but using the classroom to kill us? Isn’t that overkill?”
At that moment, Gu Jiu spoke up: “Because our presence threatens to break certain rules of this school, she’s panicking.”
Someone instinctively asked, “What?”
“Gu Jiu is right,” Ji Linfan said, his eyes lighting up. “What we’ve done is disrupting some of the school’s rules. Our presence is detrimental to this place, and that’s why they want us dead.”
He took a deep breath, looking at everyone as he warned, “From now on, these ghosts may come after all the players. Stay vigilant.”
Without hesitation, Gu Jiu grabbed Lu Ji and led him out of the classroom.
The ticking of the clock grew more frantic. If they didn’t leave soon, their time would be forcibly accelerated. The other players, unwilling to gamble with their lives, gritted their teeth and bolted out of the classroom.
As they ran, the dean lunged at them from outside.
A large black shield materialized out of nowhere, standing like an iron wall in the hallway and separating the players from the dean.
“Run! This won’t hold her for long!” Ji Linfan shouted urgently.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, cracks began to form on the shield.
The black shield was Ji Linfan’s defensive item. It had withstood numerous ghostly assaults in the past, proving nearly indestructible. Yet against the dean, it barely lasted a minute.
As the players neared the first floor, a loud bang echoed from upstairs.
The shield had shattered.
Ji Linfan’s partner looked devastated. “Old Ji, that shield has protected us so many times. I can’t believe it sacrificed itself here. My heart aches—we’ll never find another defensive item this good!”
“You can always go back and avenge it,” Ji Linfan replied dryly.
His partner quickly countered, “Forget I said anything!”
Just as they reached the first floor, the sound of a ball bouncing echoed through the quiet night—thud, thud, thud.
They looked up to see a boy using his own head as a basketball.
The boy, cradling his detached head in his arms, turned to face them. His ghostly face twisted into a malevolent grin.
But the moment his gaze landed on Gu Jiu, the boy froze.
“…Uh, sorry to bother you,” he muttered, and without another word, spun around and ran off with his head. His retreat was so quick and decisive that it left everyone stunned.
A few players, however, remembered how mercilessly Gu Jiu had dealt with this ghost in the past. They fully understood why he had no courage to stick around.
Who could blame him for running away after facing someone so terrifying?
There was no time to dwell on the ghost’s escape, though—the dean was already charging down from upstairs.
“Split up!” Ji Linfan shouted. “Head for the center of the school!”
“Where’s the center of the school?” someone asked.
“The field!” Ji Linfan answered.
With a clear destination in mind, the group scattered in different directions. Though still confused, they didn’t have the luxury to think too deeply. Ji Linfan’s words were enough for now. If the field turned out to be a dead end, they could always run again.
The nighttime campus offered no safe haven. For the players, it was equally dangerous no matter where they went.
Some players immediately sprinted toward the field.
The dean, now unhindered by the floors above, arrived on the first floor. She morphed back into her monstrous form, with three-meter-long limbs, and started chasing the players heading toward the field.
Meanwhile, Gu Jiu and her group made their way toward the multimedia teaching building.
After confirming that the dean was pursuing the players running to the field, the three of them stopped to reassess the situation. They decided to head to the field and investigate.
“Why would Old Ji send us to the field?” Chai Yingying asked, puzzled. “Could it be because it’s the central area of the school? Maybe there’s something special about it?”
She tried to recall the campus map and the location Ji Linfan had circled in red. Narrowing her eyes, she pictured the circular area, the pentagram inside, and the central point of the pentagram.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Gu Jiu replied nonchalantly. “But getting there might be a bit tricky.”
Just as Chai Yingying was about to ask what kind of trouble they’d face, a strange whooshing sound came from above, like something falling rapidly from the sky.
The three quickly dodged, and with a loud thud, something crashed heavily into the ground. Had they not reacted in time, it would have landed directly on them.
Chai Yingying squinted at the object and immediately felt her expression twist into one of disbelief.
It was the Jumping Ghost, flung down from above.
She glanced around. They were still about a kilometer away from the multimedia teaching building. No matter how skilled the Jumping Ghost was, it shouldn’t have been able to launch itself all the way here.
As she pondered this, the ghost’s shattered body began writhing on the ground. In a disturbingly fast motion, it lunged toward them.
Gu Jiu reacted first, delivering a powerful kick that sent the ghost flying. Afterward, she hastily wiped her shoe on the ground, as if trying to scrape off the blood and its unsettling stickiness.
The Jumping Ghost, now resembling a boneless mass of flesh, squirmed rapidly across the floor. Using its hands to push off the ground, it leapt at them like a grasshopper. Its blood-covered face twisted into a grotesque, gleeful smile.
Chai Yingying narrowly avoided being tackled. She quickly flung a handful of tacks, which shot toward the ghost like bullets. However, the writhing mass of flesh on the ghost’s body absorbed the tacks effortlessly, devouring them as it continued its charge. Behind it, the blood and flesh it dragged along formed a grotesque, writhing trail that looked like a living meat pie.
Lu Ji tossed a few animal-shaped paper talismans to block its path. The ghost’s flesh latched onto the paper animals and consumed them with a horrible chewing sound. Within moments, the talismans were gone.
The Jumping Ghost was devouring their tools.
From the hungry glint in the ghost’s eyes, the three had no doubt that its ultimate target was them.
“What the hell? When did this thing get so strong?” Chai Yingying exclaimed, disbelief etched across her face. “Is this what Old Ji meant by a wolf in sheep’s clothing?”
They had seen the Jumping Ghost throw itself off buildings night after night, shattering into pieces and dragging its twisted body around, seemingly harmless. But now, it had transformed into a boss-level threat.
Gu Jiu grabbed Lu Ji and started running. “Of course it’s stronger. Something wants us all dead, so it’s making the ghosts more powerful!”
Chai Yingying asked, “Is it the Reincarnator?”
“Yes!”
“Then who is the Reincarnator?”
“I don’t know,” Gu Jiu replied. “But someone does!”
“Who?”
Gu Jiu didn’t answer, nor did she have the chance, because a Plaster Ghost suddenly appeared in front of them.
Even the Plaster Ghost had left the art classroom to join the hunt. It was a testament to how determined this entity was to kill them. Chai Yingying thought of the sheer number of ghosts in the school and felt her vision darken.
With so many ghosts, how could the players possibly escape?
Faced with the Plaster Ghost in front and the Jumping Ghost behind, the three of them decisively changed direction and bolted in another direction.
As they ran, they encountered the Auditorium Ghost and the Water Ghost. These ghosts had been repeatedly harassed by the group’s supernatural dolls in the past, and their grudges ran deep. Tonight, they had all come out for vengeance.
Chai Yingying, her face contorted in despair, muttered, “I guess this is karma for bullying ghosts too much.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. How is that bullying?” Gu Jiu retorted, her tone righteous. “They started it. We were just fighting back. If they’re incompetent, of course they have to pay the price. That’s not bullying.”
This twisted logic only seemed to provoke the ghosts into chasing them more aggressively.
Chai Yingying shrieked, “Eldest Miss, could you stop provoking them for once?!”
The three of them dashed forward, pursued by a growing train of furious ghosts, creating an almost comically chaotic spectacle.
Other players who happened to cross their path quickly dodged out of the way, not wanting to get involved.
They sprinted at full speed, and before they realized it, they had reached the dormitory area.
In the distance, they spotted the Dorm Supervisor Auntie standing at her post.
She clutched a broom and a dustpan, her face twisted into a sinister and horrifying smile. She seemed ready to join forces with the ghosts and tear the three of them apart. But just as she made her move, ropes suddenly shot out from the dormitory building, wrapping around her and binding her tightly.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone for a moment, players and ghosts alike.