Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

As the sun slowly rose from the horizon, the seven of them, keeping track of the time, barely managed to finish cleaning the classroom.

Everyone briefly introduced themselves. The woman with the aloof appearance was named Ding Xiang, a painter, and this was her second time entering the domain.

Another experienced, rather strong man, only introduced himself as surnamed Gong, without providing any further information.

The man who had been wearing pajamas earlier smiled and introduced himself as a freelancer named Du Tingfeng.

The female student, Fang Jia, stayed next to the girl, while the white-collar worker, Wu Yan, stood beside her. Neither of them spoke much.

The middle-aged man, Zeng Mingwei, kept talking and boasting about his wealth and status until the burly man's eyes turned fierce, at which point he stopped.

As for Chen Ji, everyone knows his name and background.

As the students entered the classroom, accompanied by heavy, dragging footsteps, they brought with them a chill from the outside air.

The group was already seated. Chen Ji glanced over and noticed that the students who came in all had pale faces, dark circles under their eyes, and looked very tired.

It's winter outside, and the wind is biting cold. The students are all tired and sleepy because they have to get up at five o'clock in the morning to do morning exercises.

To his surprise, no one chose to lie down on the table and take a nap. After returning to their seats, they all immediately took out books from their desks.

The desks in front of them were piled high with textbooks, taking up the entire desk like a mountain.

Chen Ji's eyes flashed, and he reached into the desk drawer, where he found a textbook.

He took it out too, opened his mouth but didn't make a sound, just like he usually did during morning reading, trying to blend in with the others' loud reading.

Ding-dong

The bell for morning reading finally rang.

Chen Ji lowered his head and pretended to read, but his eyes were secretly scanning the doorway, but no teacher appeared there.

The sound of reading aloud in the classroom grew even louder.

Chen Ji shifted his body slightly and caught a glimpse of the middle-aged man behind him yawning as he slumped in his seat.

The book in front of him was not opened.

Chen Ji shifted his gaze to the left, about to see what the others were doing, when suddenly he froze.

His heart skipped a beat!

A woman's face was pressed against the glass of the narrow window at the back of the classroom, peering into the room!

Goosebumps instantly rose on Chen Ji's arm; he had just made eye contact with those eyes.

He immediately sat up straight, lowered his head, and began to read aloud, completely absorbed in his reading.

The female teacher had been standing there for who knows how long, without making a sound, silently monitoring the classroom.

After a long while, Chen Ji finally felt the gaze that had been staring at him disappear, and his back was covered in cold sweat.

With the sound of high heels clicking, a middle-aged female teacher stepped into the classroom.

Chen Ji narrowed his eyes. He was now a little overwhelmed by the voice, and hearing it reminded him of the painted-skin ghost with its feet upside down.

The female teacher, who wore glasses, had high cheekbones and sunken cheeks. She coughed lightly twice, and the reading in the classroom stopped.

Her expression was stern as she scrutinized the students below the podium before finally fixing her gaze on the middle-aged man.

"Zeng Mingwei, what were you doing just now?"

"Huh?" The middle-aged man had long been in society and hadn't been to school for many years. He was caught off guard when his name was suddenly called out.

"I...I was reading." He stood up hurriedly, cold sweat pouring down his face.

"Is that so?" the female teacher sneered. "Whether you're reading or sleeping, you know perfectly well."

Suddenly, her voice rose sharply, and she slammed her pointer down on the podium: "Some people, if they don't study, they shouldn't delay others' studies!"

"If everyone were like you, would we even be able to have morning reading sessions?"

She pointed at Zeng Mingwei and said with disgust, "Go stand at the back and don't go back to your seat until the bell rings!"

The room below the podium was completely silent. Apart from the original students, the burly man, Ding Xiang, and Chen Ji all kept their heads down and did not look at Zeng Mingwei.

Fang Jia, sitting in front, had her head buried in the pile of books, her body trembling almost imperceptibly.

Zeng Mingwei breathed a sigh of relief. He was often punished by being made to stand when he was in school, so this was nothing.

He stood alone by the wall, holding a book, feeling a sense of contempt, having initially thought there would be more serious consequences.

Chen Ji glanced past the book at Ding Xiang and the burly man, and seeing their tense expressions, his heart sank.

Zeng Mingwei's punishment is definitely not that simple.

......

The mechanical reading continued as if nothing had happened.

The female teacher sat beside the podium, holding a thermos in her hand, her eyes scanning everyone like an eagle's, keenly capturing every student's little movements.

The remaining six dared not look at Zeng Mingwei any longer, and all lowered their heads, reading their books, some seriously and some pretending.

The morning reading session lasts for 50 minutes, starting at 6:00 and ending 10 minutes before 7:00.

Zeng Mingwei held the textbook and read it nervously for a while. Only when he saw the female teacher's gaze disappear into the distance did he secretly glance at the clock.

It's 6:20 now, 30 minutes before get out of class ends, but his legs are already aching and his feet are numb. He can only keep changing his position, and finally he just leans against the wall completely.

It would have been better if he hadn't leaned on it like that; as soon as his body relaxed, a strong sense of drowsiness immediately filled Zeng Mingwei's mind.

A few minutes later, his head seemed to lose its support and drooped heavily, then he suddenly lifted it up again, forcing himself to stay awake.

After repeating this several times, Zeng Mingwei could no longer hold on; his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he could no longer open them.

His consciousness slowly drifted into a dream, his breathing slowed, and his head drooped completely, unable to resist the drowsiness.

A pair of hands slowly emerged from the wall behind them, without making a sound.

Those hands were as cold as if they had been soaked in water, and they quickly clung to Zeng Mingwei's neck, making him shudder.

"What the hell?"

Slippery and damp, like a snake crawling, Zeng Mingwei was about to turn his head to look when the hand on his neck suddenly tightened, binding his head like a knot.

The air seemed to escape instantly, and Zeng Mingwei's face turned bright red. He grabbed the fingers on his neck with one hand, trying to pry them apart one by one, while his other hand reached behind him.

There was no one behind him, only a solid wall.

Zeng Mingwei flailed his arms wildly, and the more he tried to break free, the tighter the hand around his neck tightened.

His mouth was wide open, but no sound came out; only intermittent gurgling sounds came from deep in his throat. He could no longer breathe through his trachea.

His eyes were bulging, bloodshot and protruding, and in his struggle, he felt a soft touch.

Another pair of pale, cold, and slippery hands brushed against Zeng Mingwei's skin and tightly embraced his chest.

……

"...A teacher is one who imparts knowledge, teaches skills, and resolves doubts..."

Zeng Mingwei was jolted awake as the clear reading voice gradually came back to reality.

He's not dead?

The classroom was bustling with noise, and not far from him, one could see the students reading aloud.

Is it a dream? It’s a dream!

Zeng Mingwei breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly noticed the female teacher staring at him, and quickly picked up his textbook.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word; only intermittent breaths escaped.

"Heh...heh..."

Zeng Mingwei cleared his throat and suddenly realized...

I wasn't breathing.

The familiar feeling of suffocation has not disappeared.

And why does his chest hurt so much and feel so cold?

Zeng Mingwei lowered his head in horror; this time, a chilling sensation enveloped his entire body.

Countless hands, pale as drowning people, reached out from behind him, tightly gripping his neck and sternum, wrapping around Zeng Mingwei's entire body.

no no!

He struggled desperately, but to no avail. His grip tightened until a cracking sound was heard as his sternum broke.

Zeng Mingwei's eyes widened, and he violently swung his hand, throwing the book onto the back of the student in front of him.

Turn around!

Whoever it is, turn around!

He opened his mouth wide and let out a silent roar: Save me!

I beg you……

The student did not turn around.

The textbook fell to the ground with a thud, its sound, like his cry for help, drowned out by the orderly recitation of lessons...