The pair of leather shoes hadn’t even gotten close when they suddenly turned and left the classroom.
Zuo Si breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to crawl out from under his desk.
But just then, he saw two boys squatting opposite him, staring intently.
They wore tattered school uniforms, their eyes lifeless, and wisps of grayish-black mist swirled around them.
These were clearly ghosts!
Before Zuo Si could move, the two boys suddenly dropped to all fours, crawling towards him like lizards.
Zuo Si gripped his scalpel tightly, watching the two boys get closer and closer, but dared not act rashly; after all, there were two of them!
Their eyes met, but neither made a move.
After staring at each other for a while, the two boys suddenly shrank under the same desk as him.
The surroundings were cold and eerie.
Although they blocked his path, the two boys didn’t harm Zuo Si. Instead, they squatted on the ground, turned their heads, and faced away from him.
Just as Zuo Si was wondering why they were doing this, the sound of leather shoes suddenly rang out again.
Clatter…clatter…
Quickly.
The Night Watchman had actually returned!
He circled the classroom, even bending down to peek under the desk where Zuo Si was hiding…
But his view was blocked by the two boys.
Then, as if he hadn’t seen the two boys at all, he simply left.
A few breaths later, the two boys’ figures slowly faded and disappeared without a trace.
“What do these two boys mean? Are they protecting me? Or do they not want me to leave?”
Zuo Si was confused.
Were the two boys’ actions well-intentioned or malicious?
“I can’t worry about that now, the mission is more important.”
He tiptoed out of the classroom, climbed back to the third floor, and returned to his confinement room.
He had just closed the door when he heard a knock.
Knock knock knock.
Knock knock knock.
The sound wasn’t loud, like a light knock, and the wooden door trembled slightly with the rhythm of the knocking. “Who is it?”
Zuo Si immediately opened the door, but the dark corridor was empty.
“You’re right outside, aren’t you!” Zuo Si asked. “Answer me, if you’re always invisible, how am I supposed to find you?”
There was no response, as if he were talking to thin air.
Zuo Si closed the door again, wanting to try and see if anyone would knock this time.
Knock knock knock.
Knock knock knock.
As soon as the door closed, the knocking started again. He quickly opened the door again.
He immediately pulled out a scalpel and stabbed at the door from all directions, striking it more than a dozen times.
But nothing happened.
“Strange…”
The door closed again, and the knocking started again.
Knock knock knock.
Knock knock knock.
The knocker made no attempt to hide, as if mocking Zuo Si for not being able to find him.
The glass next to the door was broken.
Zuo Si peeked out, wanting to see what was outside.
There was nothing at the door, but the knocking didn’t stop. The dilapidated wooden door trembled violently—a truly eerie scene.
The camera on Zuo Si’s chest captured everything.
This scene also frightened the viewers in the live stream.
“Holy crap, could it really be a ghost? How can this be so creepy?”
“I’m hiding under the covers, it feels so safe.”
“Do you think the person knocking might be hiding on top of the door?”
“…”
The viewers’ comments weren’t entirely unhelpful. The last comment immediately reminded Zuo Si that the only thing he hadn’t checked was the door itself…
He took out his flashlight and slowly moved his gaze upwards.
The gray-black door frame was unremarkable, and there wasn’t a single ghostly shadow on the mottled wall.
Zuo Si felt a headache coming on. If the ghost was invisible, where would he find it…?
Wasn’t this just making things difficult?
Undeterred, he peered further into the distance.
Suddenly, a blurry figure appeared in the darkness at the west end of the stairwell, trembling uncontrollably.
“Could he be the one knocking?”
Zuo Si switched off his flashlight and left the solitary confinement room.
He stealthily approached the figure.
The figure seemed unaware of Zuo Si, continuing to tremble.
As he drew closer, Zuo Si’s pupils contracted. Wasn’t this the woman in gray?
Didn’t she run out of the teaching building? How did she get back in?
“Son, son, Mom’s here…”
The woman in gray was crying; her trembling was due to her sobs.
Zuo Si hesitated for a moment, then said, “You’re the one knocking? I’ve found you!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the woman in gray turned sharply, her eyes wide open. Her scalded, deformed face was terrifying, pockmarked and deathly pale. “Son, son, Mommy’s here…”
She called out to her son as she approached Zuo Si.
“Are you talking to me?”
Zuo Si slowly backed away, confused about what this crazy woman wanted.
“Son, Mommy was wrong. Mommy will never hit you again, never scold you again. Come home with Mommy, okay?”
“I’m not your son. You’ve mistaken me for someone else! If you come any closer, I won’t be polite!”
Zuo Si’s words had no effect; the crazy woman continued to approach.
Zuo Si slowly reached into his pocket, ready to pull out a scalpel at any moment and stab the crazy woman.
Suddenly!
The crazy woman, as if she had taken drugs, rushed forward.
Zuo Si raised the scalpel and stabbed at her.
But before he could touch her, he felt himself lose his balance and crash heavily against the wall.
Bang! Zuo Si was so disoriented by the fall that he didn’t even know how he got there.
Although his body ached all over, he forced himself to stand up immediately and looked around.
In that short time, the madwoman had disappeared.
But just then, the plaintive crying reached his ears again.
“She hasn’t left yet.”
Zuo Si listened carefully; the sound was coming from the solitary confinement cell.
Through the window, he saw the madwoman sobbing, her head resting on her desk.
“It seems the student who’s often put in solitary confinement is her son?!”
Zuo Si made this judgment instantly.
“Could the one knocking on the door also be her son?” Zuo Si thought to himself, “That’s very possible! Ghosts and monsters have territorial instincts. There’s only one ghost in this cell, and this woman just happened to find it and keeps calling for her son…”
“Why would a student who’s often put in solitary confinement keep knocking on the solitary confinement cell door? Does he like coming here?”
Zuo Si shook his head.
“Absolutely not. If he liked being in solitary confinement, he wouldn’t hate the teacher so much, and he wouldn’t be drawing those patterns.”
“Since he doesn’t want to go into solitary confinement… then it must be…”
Zuo Si’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Then he wants to go out!!”
A chill ran down his spine. Recalling the knocking sound earlier, it definitely sounded like it was coming from inside…
“Who says the knocker has to be on the outside!?”
“That d@mn thing has been right next to me the whole time…”