“Nonsense, over and over again.”

Just when the atmosphere inside the car became extremely stagnant, Teacher Xu sneered and threw the still yapping remains of the cell phone out of the car.

Afterward, he turned with a calm expression to look at the other three people in the car. He said evenly: “I’ve told you many times that this kind of ghost specializes in attacking the human heart. If you hear this type of ghost start to talk, you shouldn’t believe a word of it. It’s best to not even listen.”

He gestured with his hands a few times in the driver’s seat, seeming to calculate something.

After a few minutes, the wrinkles between his eyebrows seemed to loosen a bit.

“Tsk, shouldn’t that be right? The Martyrs Cemetery should be right next to us.”

Qiao Yang had relaxed momentarily after Teacher Xu spoke, but then he stared at the increasingly obvious “human figures” outside the window and asked in a panic: “B-but Teacher, how do we get there?”

Teacher Xu lowered his head and moved his hand, grabbing a paper cup from the glove box and pouring some wolfberry water into it. Then he dipped his fingertips in it and drew a few vague strokes on the top of the cup.

He rolled the window down and reached his hand out with the cup, pouring it around the car.

“Wuuuuuu….”

“Wuu….”

All of a sudden, the shadows that had gathered together receded significantly as faint, bizarre cries rose from the fog.

The bells in the car stopped jingling.

There seemed to be a faint wind blowing.

The originally thick and suffocating night fog also faded quite a bit with the wind.

“Look!” Li Xiu shouted in surprise.

Just as Teacher Xu had said, they were, in fact, not going in circles — the Martyrs Cemetery was actually not far from them at all.

At a glance, Li Xiu saw the black and white gates of the Martyrs Cemetery outside the car. Through a thin layer of fog, he could even spy the dimly-lit security booth on the other side of the gates, as well as the security guard inside who was playing with his cell phone.

“Hey! Over here—”

Qiao Yang also grew excited and shouted continuously toward the cemetery guard.

However, even though they were only ten meters apart, they seemed to be in a completely different world from the guard in the security booth. No matter how the people in the car called out to draw the other party’s attention, he still turned a deaf ear and focused all of his attention on the cell phone in his hand.

“Hateful!”

Qiao Yang was so angry that he could jump up and down. By the looks of him, he almost wanted to get out of the car and rush into the cemetery.

But at this moment, the disturbingly thick fog began to envelop them again, and the reassuring cemetery gates were once again hidden in depths of a churning, reddish fog.

Ding-ling—

The “human figures” that had vanished just now once again appeared in everyone’s field of vision.

The brass bells at the four corners of the car cabin rang once again.

Teacher Xu’s expression shifted slightly.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the handful of coins that had been hanging on the rearview mirror.

“Teacher?” When he saw what he was doing, Qiao Yang’s eyes widened in shock.

He seemed to know something that Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an didn’t, and immediately shouted in worry: “Wait, Teacher, like this—”

Teacher Xu clenched his hand into a fist and coughed twice. Before Qiao Yang could finish speaking, he quickly waved for him to be silent.

“It’s alright.”

“How can we get out of this situation unless we go all-out?” The man said in a profound voice.

Then he untied the copper coins from the fuzzy red string and, one by one, divided them into four groups and placed them in front of the windshield.

Li Xiu had always been adept at observing a person’s every word and emotion. Based on the few words exchanged between Teacher Xu and Qiao Yang, he keenly sensed a strange atmosphere.

He couldn’t help but ask: “Teacher Xu, what are you doing?”

“It’s nothing, just a means of saving our lives. Although they harm one’s vitality, they must still be used. Ai, this night is truly arduous…..”

He smiled bitterly as he spoke to the frightened youth in the back seat, then motioned for Li Xiu, Fang Qian’an, and Qiao Yang to hold out their hands.

Everyone was given a handful of copper coins.

They couldn’t tell what year the copper coins were from, but Li Xiu felt that these things were unusual when he received them. It was clearly just a small handful of copper coins, but they felt warm, even a little hot.

Moreover, each of those copper coins was so heavy that it made his hand hurt.

Seeing that everyone had received their coins, the older man explained word by word: “Cough, cough. Listen to me. We’re currently trapped in a ghost maze, and things are going to get very tricky. Because this time, there is indeed ‘something’ in the fog.”

“Right now, if we keep our eyes open and look outside, we will definitely be trapped in this hellhole,” Teacher Xu said, glancing at the thick fog outside the window.

“I only have one method at this point, though it’s not a solution…..I’ll get out of the car in a moment and explore the path. If I can escape, I’ll clap my hands from a safe place. So as long as you hear clapping, don’t hesitate to leave the car.”

“G-get out?”

“Get out?”

“…..”

Hearing that they were to get out of the car, let alone unlucky high school students Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an, even Qiao Yang had a hint of fear in his eyes. Teacher Xu saw this, and his tone was inevitably stained with a hint of solemnity.

“Yes, just follow my clapping when you get out of the car, and you should be able to walk out. However, there is something I need to tell you carefully — as soon as you get out of the car, you must close your eyes.” Teacher Xu spoke with unprecedented seriousness.

“When you get out of the car, there will be nothing to protect you. If you open your eyes, I fear that you won’t simply be disoriented by the ghost. Instead, you will be directly taken to the otherworld. If that is that case, you will be trapped in that hell with no way out.”

Although Teacher Xu tried his best to speak as calmly as possible, anyone could hear the grave tension in his voice.

Li Xiu glanced at Fang Qian’an and thought he looked like a cat with its fur puffed up.

“Walk with our eyes closed? What if the things in the fog get us?” Fang Qian’an said in horror.

The former school bully looked like a stressed out cat as he questioned fearfully: “Teacher Xu, didn’t you say that outside our car…..there are only ghosts?”

The youth’s voice trembled.

Li Xiu lowered his eyes and held himself back for a moment. But when he was finally unable to endure, he reached out and gently grabbed Fang Qian’an’s wrist.

He even suspected that Fang Qian’an was scared to tears.

“Fang Qian’an, listen to Teacher Xu,” Li Xiu said.

Faced with Fang Qian’an’s doubts, Teacher Xu calmly pointed at the handful of copper coins in everyone’s hands. “Isn’t that why I gave these to you? Don’t be afraid. If something does grab you, give them a copper coin and follow the directions I’ve given you.”

“When you get out of this haunted area, you will know when to open your eyes.”

“But before that, I must say again — do not open your eyes while you’re finding your way.”

Teacher Xu patted Qiao Yang after he spoke.

“…..Qiao Yang, if you all don’t hear me clap, I’ll have to rely on you.”

“R-rely on me? But I-I don’t know what to do…..wu…..Teacher…..”

Qiao Yang’s eyes were already filled with tears.

Obviously, the “path exploration” that Teacher Xu lightly touched upon was probably not as simple as the man said.

Teacher Xu said softly to Qiao Yang: “After all, you’ve learned so much from me,” Teacher Xu said. “I should actually be the one protecting you, but isn’t this a special situation? Classmates Li and Fang are both still students, and can only rely on you now. Xiao Qiao, ah, you still need to hold on.”

Qiao Yang grasped Teacher Xu’s hand.

When such a big man started to cry, his face was covered with snot and tears.

Qiao Yang spoke hurriedly: “I’ll do it, Teacher, or how about I go? If…..if finding the path doesn’t work, you can think of other methods.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Qiao Yang shuddered under Teacher Xu’s stern gaze. “With you wailing this much, it makes me feel like I’m really going to die. Qiao Yang, ah, do you really not trust your teacher? Besides, where can there be a teacher squatting in the back and waiting for the students to go into an array—”

When Teacher Xu was done speaking, he turned his attention to Li Xiu. His deep eyes inadvertently revealed a complicated look, making the already anxious youth even more fearful.

“Teacher Xu…..”

“Li Xiu, ah…..”

Teacher Xu concealed the deep thoughts in his eyes and suddenly got up, reaching out to pat Li Xiu’s head.

Then he flicked his wrist, and Li Xiu felt something else in his hand.

It was an ordinary-looking candle.

Li Xiu’s eyes widened at the candle in his hand, and his heart skipped a beat.

Of course he couldn’t regard this as an ‘ordinary’ candle. He remembered clearly that when he was trapped by Lord Hong…..it was his grandmother and Fang Qian’an who lit the ‘candles’ and brought him back to their own world.

“Wait. Teacher Xu, this is…..”

“Alright, don’t talk.” Teacher Xu lowered his voice and signaled Li Xiu to be quiet. “You are the youngest and your situation is the most particular. That Lord Hong has also been watching you, ah…..ai, there’s really nothing about your situation that can make me rest assured.”

The man said quietly: “But don’t be afraid, Li Xiu. Although your grandmother only learned a little bit, since she was able to raise that thing until now without any problems, she must have used some sort of special magic.”

Hearing this, Qiao Yang couldn’t help looking at Li Xiu.

Ah, yes.

Qiao Yang also recalled that Li Xiu had a special constitution.

Teacher Xu turned to the side and said word by word into Li Xiu’s ear: “…..You saw that when Lord Hong brought all those evil spirits before, we couldn’t do anything about them. You, and only you, can hurt them.”

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Chapter 54 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 56