Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

"No, you walk without making a sound?"

Chen Ji was utterly speechless, his heart still pounding, almost thinking he had encountered a ghost.

Behind him was Xu Sandao.

"Sorry." Xu Sandao's face showed no remorse, he just smiled.

Did you find the information you needed?

Chen Ji shook his head.

"They're not here; the materials are probably all in the old teaching building."

"And how did you sneak in?"

Chen Jiming clearly remembered that several security guards came out before he entered the teaching building.

“There’s a small hole next to the south gate.” Xu Sandao glanced around. “Let’s go. I saw it when I came here. The old teaching building is to the west.”

After a few minutes.

A drab three-story building, its exterior walls, covered in ivy, are barely visible under the streetlights.

I don't know how many years it's been.

There isn't even a sign...

Chen Ji whispered to himself, walked to the other side and looked around, and found that it was difficult to tell from the outside whether it was a teaching building or not.

The two men, shining flashlights, pushed the iron gate, and it opened easily.

"Someone has been in here!"

Chen Ji was startled and smelled a dusty odor.

He shone the light on the ground and saw a series of thin footprints emerging from the dust.

“It must have come from the last few months…” he added, bending down to examine the floor tiles: “The marks are very new.”

"Could it be a teacher?"

Xu Sandao said, looking around.

The two were standing directly opposite the stairs, next to some dusty medals and a few yellowed photos.

"A group photo of the football team winning the championship in 2010... This photo has been taken away."

Chen Ji noticed something unusual.

In the group photo, there's one photo in particular with an empty frame.

“It wasn’t taken recently.” Chen Ji shone his flashlight on the frame. “The dust on the frame is thick, and there are no fingerprints.”

Photos, medals, slogans...

Everything here seems to have remained unchanged from more than a decade ago.

Xu Sandao yawned: "Weren't you going to find information on Luo Lin's son?"

"Let's go to the archives."

He watched silently from the sidelines, seemingly unconcerned about the past of this place.

"Wait a minute." Chen Ji followed the footprints upwards. "I want to see what the people who came here before did."

Xu Sandao remained noncommittal.

The footprint's route is clear, without too many twists and turns, seemingly indicating a well-defined destination.

Turn left on the second floor and walk forward two or three classrooms...

The footprints stopped in classroom 204.

What is he doing in the classroom?

Chen Ji was somewhat bewildered; this was different from what he had guessed!

The old teaching building had not been used for many years. The only useful place was the archives, which was the destination Chen Ji had guessed earlier.

Classroom 204 remains as it was originally.

The desks and chairs were all neatly put back in their original places, and the deflated soccer ball was piled up against the classroom wall.

The chalk writing on the blackboard was not erased.

Just like the students here, they only went out for a physical education class.

"How come..." Chen Ji looked incredulous: "All the other classrooms have been abandoned!"

"Xu Sandao, you saw it too, didn't you!"

Xu Sandao hummed in agreement.

He stood outside classroom 204, not going in, half of his body shrouded in darkness.

“It’s the same here,” he said. “The desk is covered in dust.”

As the flashlight shone, the footprints gradually became clearer...

It extended all the way to the middle of the last row.

Then, from the other side, they went around to the podium.

For some reason, a strange feeling began to surface in Chen Ji's heart.

He stood on the podium, and it seemed he saw a figure from behind...

Stepping into this abandoned school building, into this abandoned classroom, I finally sat down at that abandoned desk.

Before leaving, this figure stood in Chen Ji's spot, silently watching the entire classroom.

"why?"

Chen Ji murmured softly.

"A former student?"

Or... Rowling's son?

"It's a ghost, isn't it?" Xu Sandao broke the untimely atmosphere in the classroom. "It might be a bound spirit."

Chen Ji: "?"

"They're like ghosts trapped in one place," Xu Sandao explained earnestly. "Do you understand?"

Chen Ji felt a chill for no reason, even though he didn't believe Xu Sandao's words at all.

"Alright, let's go to the archives."

Xu Sandao smiled and said, "The yin energy here is very strong."

Chen Ji looked around and found that there was really nothing left to search.

The seat where the footprint was placed has had its table hole cleared out.

As the two returned to the corridor, Chen Ji noticed something strange:

There was only one set of footprints.

There were no more traces of returning after leaving classroom 204; the footprints ended in the classroom!

"Has he not gone out at all?"

Chen Ji instantly got goosebumps!

He thought of the image that flashed through his mind when he stood on the podium, and he was a little unsure whether it was just a fantasy.

Chen Ji looked behind him questioningly: "Who exactly is this person?"

No one responded to him.

"Xu Sandao?"

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment.

Xu Sandao has disappeared!

thump.

Only a sudden thud echoed throughout the corridor.

Chen Ji's entire body stiffened instantly, and his heart seemed to stop beating for a moment—

He saw the deflated soccer ball being kicked out of classroom 204.

It wobbled and bumped into the wall, finally coming to rest at Chen Ji's feet.

A word was written on it with a marker:

[Luo]

Rowling's son!

Chen Ji froze for a moment, grabbed the ball, and ran towards the door of 204!

There really is something ghostly here!

Xu Sandao, perhaps he was taken away by a ghost...

Chen Ji's heart tightened, and without saying a word, he pulled out the little monkey wearing the red scarf.

[Words] He probably can't use it yet; his hair is his most powerful weapon.

I don't know if the little monkey would be willing to give it...

"Boom!"

A loud shout suddenly rang out beside Chen Ji!

Xu Sandao came out from behind the door, his expression strange: "Aren't you scared?"

Chen Ji stood blankly at the door of room 204, seemingly unresponsive.

"You are sick?"

Chen Ji said it very directly.

"Why did you come back again?" Xu Sandao didn't answer him, but asked instead, "Didn't I tell you there are ghosts here?"

...to save you.

Chen Ji refrained from throwing a punch: "Who kicked that soccer ball just now?"

Xu Sandao pointed to himself.

"Why?" Chen Ji couldn't understand Xu Sandao's thought process at all.

"A clue."

Xu Sandao pointed to the words on the soccer ball: "Aren't you looking for Luo Lin's son?"

"......"

Chen Ji glanced at the classroom and saw only a seat mark on the podium.

There was no one inside.

"Let's go." Xu Sandao said calmly, his hands in his pockets. "Let's go confirm your guess."

"Room 204, the 2010 football team, there will be information in the archives."

"Let's go and see what really happened back then."