Despair Game

Chapter 10 - The Abandoned School Building

Without a doubt, Qin Yong and the others had arrived ahead of us.

From a distance, on the empty playground, their four figures stood, giving off an indescribable sense of eeriness.

Li Yang probably felt the same as me and asked me in a low voice, "Is it them?"

I took a deep breath, feeling a bit nervous at his question. After all, it was the early hours of the morning. I pretended to be calm and replied, "Don't scare yourself. Who else would it be at this late hour?"

After saying that, I tightened my collar and ran towards them, taking the lead.

As I got closer, the shapes of their figures became clearer, and I felt relieved.

From a distance, I heard Su saying that they had arrived, and then Qin Yong waved at us.

Su had tied up her hair tonight and was wearing a sportswear, looking quite heroic.

I nodded at them and then asked, "Monitor, how are the preparations?"

Su smiled and suddenly pulled out a wooden stick from behind, pretending to hit me. I knew she was joking, so I took the stick from her naturally.

It seemed that the stick Qin Yong had prepared for us was this one. It was about half a meter long and seemed handy. The key point was that I noticed yellow talisman paper attached to one end of the stick.

Qin Yong threw one each to me and Li Yang from his backpack and said seriously, "You've probably heard rumors about the abandoned teaching building. Regardless of whether they are true or not, we need to be prepared. This stick can deal with ordinary people as well as evil spirits."

Li Yang clenched the stick in surprise and asked, "Are there really evil spirits?"

Qin Yong shook his head, holding the stick up and said, "No one said they really exist. It's just that recent events in our class inevitably make people think of evil spirits. Just as Xiang Nan speculated, if the little devil is really an evil spirit hiding in the teaching building, we won't be able to deal with it without weapons."

Everyone nodded in agreement. I curiously asked, "Qin Yong, where did you get all these?"

Qin Yong didn't hide it and said generously, "I stole them from my grandfather! These wooden sticks were originally flagpoles made from peach branches, and the talismans were pressed from my grandfather's incense altar. My grandfather has been sick in bed these past few days, so I secretly took them. He probably won't notice, and even if he does, he'll just scold me a bit."

I patted Qin Yong's shoulder and said, "Thank you, Monitor!"

Qin Yong just shook his head and then we prepared to set off.

Since there were two girls this time, we had discussed it beforehand and divided into two teams. The left side split apart in a triangular shape.

Qin Yong, Li Yang, and Li Juan formed one team, while I, Xiao Ming, and Su formed another team.

The reason for doing this was that we were a total of six people. If we encountered danger from the front or back, we wouldn't be in a chaotic mess. By splitting into two teams, it was like dividing the six of us into two groups. This way, we could react immediately in all directions if we encountered danger.

This method was mentioned in a military book I had read before, where special forces often used this grouping strategy during their operations.

The abandoned teaching building was located in the back garden of the school and had only four floors. When we arrived here, we realized that the entire garden was pitch black due to the school's searchlights not covering this area. We could barely see five meters ahead, and it was practically pitch dark.

At this moment, Qin Yong took out two small flashlights from his bag and handed one to me, saying, "I only prepared two flashlights. We'll use one for our team. Everyone stay close and don't get separated."

Qin Yong took the initiative to lead the way, and both he and I raised our flashlights and shone them towards the distant teaching building.

Some might wonder why we didn't bring our phones. This was Qin Yong's suggestion. He said that in such haunted buildings, phones could generate a magnetic field that would attract evil spirits to possess them. Of course, another reason was that phones might produce unnecessary sounds and expose our presence.

Our school wasn't large, so after this building was abandoned, the school didn't intend to spend money demolishing it and rebuilding. As a result, this place was devoid of people all year round, and the entire abandoned building was covered in ivy and moss. Several window glasses were shattered, or they swung open and clattered with the wind.

I swallowed my saliva, feeling a sense of unease just from looking at it from a distance.

Qin Yong nodded at me and then we both walked towards the abandoned building.

The huge entrance looked like the mouth of a monster, ready to devour us with darkness.

As soon as we stepped inside the entrance, a chilling gust of wind blew towards us, accompanied by a musty and ashy smell. We quickly covered our noses.

Qin Yong and I continuously swept our flashlights around. All we could see were scattered tables and chairs. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The staircase was ahead of us, and without saying a word, Qin Yong and I silently started climbing upstairs.

There was a lot of dust on the staircase, and the handrail was pitch black, with remnants of scorch marks. Several sections of the handrail had already broken off.

We tried to stay close to the side of the staircase to avoid slipping and falling.

Behind me, Su tightly clung to the corner of my clothes, and I could tell she was very scared.

After thinking for a moment, I gathered my courage and gently held her hand. When she didn't refuse, I held it tightly. I could feel the slight sweat in her palm.

Li Juan had been silent all this time, but suddenly she spoke in a low voice:

"I asked the senior students before, and they said the accidents in this abandoned building happened on the third floor. Why is the first floor all burned?"

After she finished speaking, she pointed at the wall in front of us.

I followed her direction and instantly felt a chill. I had been so focused on the stairs that I hadn't noticed the corner. The entire wall was charred black, emitting a strong burnt smell. I could even see several handprints clearly marked on it.

Qin Yong glanced at it for just a moment, furrowing his brow, and continued upstairs.

On the second floor, it was all classrooms. Our two teams stood in the empty corridor, one in front of the other. Both sides were lined with classroom doors, some open and some closed. The floor was littered with books, and as the cool breeze passed by, these books started flipping pages on their own, creating an especially eerie sound.

I squeezed Su's hand and gestured for her not to be afraid. Then, I whispered to Qin Yong:

"I think we need to hurry. How about splitting into two teams and searching separately? We're all on the same corridor, close to each other. One team can search one side, and if anything happens, we can call out loudly. If there's nothing, we can continue going upstairs. What do you think?"

Qin Yong stroked his chin and pondered for a moment before nodding and saying:

"That could work, but everyone must pay attention to safety. Don't lose your sticks."

We all nodded, and then our two teams separated, going in different directions to search.

Li Yang stayed close to my right side, and if I wasn't holding Su's hand, I felt like he would cling to me.

While sweeping each classroom with my flashlight, I bumped into him and asked, "What the hell are you trembling about?"

Li Yang was knocked back by the bump but quickly closed in again, raising his stick in front of his head and whispered:

"Damn, this place is too eerie. I have a feeling we're going to encounter something."

"Damn it! Don't jinx us!"

I had just finished speaking when Su suddenly pulled my hand forcefully, exerting great strength. My flashlight almost fell to the ground.

I couldn't afford to be careless and quickly turned around to look at her. Su's eyes were wide with fear as she looked ahead, her other hand covering her mouth, as if she was afraid to make any noise.

I hurriedly shone my flashlight in the direction she was looking. It was an open classroom with a plastic bag at the entrance, constantly being blown by the wind.

Here, I couldn't assert that Su had made a mistake, and I dared not continue forward either.

Because when I turned back just now, I noticed a problem.

We had been moving forward, completely disregarding what was behind us. It was pitch black, and we couldn't see anything. When I turned to look at Su, the visibility was probably less than a meter. Without flashlights, we wouldn't be able to take a single step.

The most crucial thing was that I couldn't see the flashlight beams from Qin Yong and the other two at the other end. It was just darkness.

I knew that I couldn't panic at this moment. I had to stay calm, even though my heart was pounding out of my chest.

I leaned Su against the wall and asked Li Yang to do the same. I said, "Li Yang, keep an eye on the direction behind us. Let's take a moment to pause."

Li Yang obediently leaned against the wall, keeping his gaze fixed on the direction behind us. I used the flashlight to illuminate the front and then the back. The flashlight didn't have a very long range, but at least we could confirm that our surroundings were safe.

It was only then that I slowly released Su's hand, making a hushing gesture to her.

Su's eyes were welling up with tears in just a moment, but she held back.

I shone the flashlight ahead and asked Su, "Don't be afraid, I'm here. What did you see just now?"

Su's body was trembling slightly, and I kept patting her shoulder. Finally, she managed to squeeze out a few words:

"I-I just saw Zhao Lili. She was wearing a white dress."

What?

Zhao Lili?

My scalp tingled, why would Zhao Lili appear here? Even if she had turned into a vengeful spirit after committing suicide, shouldn't she be seeking revenge on Jin Xiaofeng? Why would she be here?

There were only four or five classrooms left ahead before reaching the end. Except for the classroom with the plastic bag, all the others were tightly shut. The flashlight's beam reflected off the windows, creating a glare that gave me the illusion that someone was standing behind the glass, watching us.

Li Yang, naturally, overheard my conversation with Su. He was frightened and said to me, "Xiang Nan, let's go back. Let's not investigate anymore. I can't see Qin Yong and the others."

The problem Qin Yong noticed, I had already noticed it long ago. I didn't mention it because I was afraid Su and Li Yang would get scared.

In reality, I was also afraid. My entire back was drenched in sweat. I could only pretend to be calm and said, "Let's not rush. We'll wait for two more minutes. Maybe Qin Yong and the others went into the classrooms to check. If their side still doesn't have any light after a while, we'll turn back and find them."

Li Yang sniffled and nodded in agreement.

After comforting Li Yang, I placed the flashlight on the ground, securing it to illuminate the front.

With one hand free, I took off the jade pendant hanging from my neck. This piece of amethyst jade was left to me by my grandmother before she passed away. She said that my grandfather had saved a person while doing business when he was young. The person was a grave robber, and to repay my grandfather, he gave him this jade, claiming it had the power to ward off evil and calamity.

In my heart, I prayed, hoping that my grandparents in heaven would protect us.

I patted Su's shoulder and then hung the amethyst jade pendant around her neck.

Su gave me a grateful look and held onto my hand tightly, unwilling to let go.

I'm not sure if it was because of the amethyst jade or my reassurance, but Su seemed to be feeling much better.

However, just at that moment, Li Yang next to us suddenly let out a loud scream. The sound echoed throughout the entire abandoned building. He waved his stick and shouted loudly, "Who is it? Who the hell pulled my hair?"

I quickly pulled Su up, picked up the flashlight from the ground, and tightly gripped my stick as I walked over to Li Yang's side.