Chapter 47: Hao Ren

*Wooo — Wooo~* Desperate wailing.

A past tragedy.

Angry rebukes —

Panicked helplessness —

Finally, everything returned to nothing.

The school was abandoned.

Silence, a deathly stillness.

Until one night, a figure climbed over the wall and slipped into the abandoned school.

“As you can see, I am a journalist. My name is Hao Ren. Laugh if you want, but I’m here to expose a…”

He spoke to his phone, talking to himself.

“I’m not doing this for money, nor for fame. I just don’t want every tragic story to be buried like this. Just think of me as a fool.”

Saying this, he set off toward the eerie, abandoned building.

“I heard about this from the locals. It caused quite a stir back then, but eventually, it was just dropped… But so what? I’m not afraid of the powers that be. I’m just doing what a journalist should do: speaking out against the injustices of the world.”

On his phone, the livestream comments scrolled by rapidly. Most were just there for the spectacle, a few were mocking him, and only a handful offered support.

But Hao Ren ignored them. He simply pushed through the overgrown grass, stepped over shards of broken blue glass, and entered the school building.

“Ghosts? Where would there be ghosts? Don’t scare yourselves. Even if there were, I wouldn’t be afraid. I’m a good man, filled with righteousness. How could any evil dare approach me?”

Pushing open the classroom door, he shone his phone’s flashlight inside.

“Cough, cough, cough… The smell of mold is so strong.”

He waved a hand in front of his nose and stepped inside.

Messy piles of desks, faint chalk marks that hadn’t been erased, and an old, dusty fan hanging from the ceiling… everything was so dilapidated, as if it had been dead for a long time.

He paced slowly, searching and inspecting, letting no clue escape him.

On the ground…

He was a bit puzzled.

‘Could it not be here?’

Thinking this, he walked toward the door but felt his foot step on something. He lifted his foot and shone the light on it; a small white lump lay there.

Hao Ren crouched down and picked up the lump with his fingertips.

It was hard and slightly sharp.

“A porcelain shard?”

He pondered before putting it down.

“Come on, let’s go to the second floor.”

Unlike the first floor, the second floor only had a teacher’s office and a confinement room. The two were far apart, separated by a straight corridor.

“The confinement room seems to be locked?”

He looked at the iron chains wrapped around it several times, then turned toward the office.

“Maybe the key is in there.”

*Click —*

He pushed open the dusty door. Everything inside was covered in dust. Yellowed and faded newspapers were piled on the desk, and a fallen teapot lay on the floor, stuck with dried tea leaves.

He shone the light downward. There was only a pile of slippers: pink, blue, and gray.

They were all different sizes.

“Looks like it’s not here.”

He walked toward the desk, but before he could pull open the drawer, there was a sound from the glass. It sounded like… someone was throwing small pebbles at the window?

He immediately shone his light over.

“Nothing? It must be some kind of bug, right? Attracted by the light and hitting the glass. See… I told you there are no ghosts. Why aren’t you guys arguing with me anymore? Scared and ran away? Cowards.”

He pulled open the drawer. Inside were yellowed papers stuck together, emitting a strange odor.

“It’s the teacher roster…”

However, only the first page was legible. The rest were stuck together, and if torn, there would be nothing left to see.

“It’s a pity I don’t know who the teachers were, otherwise it would be easier to narrow down the target.”

He put the teacher roster back in the drawer and continued his search.

*Thump, thump —*

A soft sound came from outside the window again.

He frowned.

This time, he didn’t explain to his viewers. Instead, he walked to the window and shone his light below.

A patch of wild grass reflected a cold blue light from the shards of glass.

Nothing?

*Thump, thump.*

This time, the sound didn’t come from the glass.

He whipped his head around. His light shone into the corridor, but it couldn’t reach the end before being swallowed by the darkness.

“Hiss… I really do feel a bit cold… Quiet, quiet! I’m not going back. This place is guarded during the day, so you can’t even get in.”

“Even if there are… well, I have to reveal the truth. You’ll be my eyes. Everyone, make sure to record the screen. If anything happens, I’m counting on you.”

Hao Ren curled his lip and didn’t move.

He was waiting for the sound to occur for the third time.

He held his breath.

Until —

*Thump, thump.*

He heard it clearly!

It was right outside in the corridor!

With that thought, he grabbed the teapot from the floor and carefully walked out.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he stopped.

*Thump, thump.*

The soft sound tapped out.

He shone his light directly at the source of the noise!

Then he froze.

The source of the sound…

Was that locked iron door.

The door to the confinement room.

*Thump, thump.*

The door was being knocked upon.

A chilling shiver ran down the back of his neck.

He froze in place.

“Don’t be afraid… believe in yourself! I came here in search of the truth. Even if there are vengeful spirits, they shouldn’t harm me!”

He bolstered his courage.

*Whoosh*

He stepped forward, walking toward the iron door.

He stopped 1 meter away.

*Thump, thump.*

The sound was even softer now, tiny, as if it might shatter at any moment.

Was this a knock?

Was something inside knocking on the door?

Without knowing what possessed him, he actually reached out and knocked on the door himself.

*Thump, thump —*

The sound was much louder than before.

And before long, a response came.

*Thump, thump.*

*Thump, thump.*

*Thump, thump, thump.*

*Thump, thump-thump.*

‘It seems… it might not be a ghost? A person?’

Otherwise, how could they respond to him like that?

“Hey! Can you hear me? If you can, give me a response.”

He even spoke to the iron door.

The comments were going wild, but he ignored them.

What if someone was actually trapped inside?

Then he absolutely could not just stand by and watch!

*Thump, thump.*

What came out was still that tiny knocking sound. Bit by bit, it lingered in the dark night, in the corridor, and in this long-abandoned school building.

“Tch… wait for me, I’ll get the door open.”

As he spoke, he gestured at the chains.

“No, I can’t just pull them off!”

Aside from a key, he would have to hit them with some kind of blunt object.

But where would he find something like that here?

Wait —

He immediately turned around and ran downstairs, back to the classroom. He found a desk and set his phone aside. Under the light, his shadow suddenly hoisted another shadow.

*Crack —*

The desk was smashed into countless pieces of wood that scattered across the floor. He grabbed the largest one and ran back up to the second floor.

Arriving at the door once more, he puffed for breath. He placed his phone on the windowsill, gripped the wood with both hands, and slammed it down with all his might!

*Crack —*

The chains rattled.

*Crack —*

The chains shook again.

He swung the makeshift club tirelessly, his shadow dancing on the wall again and again…

*Snap —*

With one last strike accompanied by a sharp screech, the chain snapped in two.

He tossed aside the discarded stick, hesitated for a moment, and then firmly reached out to unwrap the remaining chains.

*Clatter*

When all the chains had fallen to the ground and the world returned to silence, that tiny thumping sound seemed to have vanished along with them.

He took a deep breath, grasped the door handle, and pushed it open.

*Creeeak —*

The iron door let out a scraping sound, and the light from the phone on the windowsill followed the door’s rotation, shining into the small room.

He looked at everything before him.

A dark, empty room with nothing inside.

There was only a small window, open to the outside.

*Thump, thump.*

That was where the sound was coming from.

He grabbed his phone and, with its light, finally saw what was outside.

It was a small, green fruit being blown by the wind, stubbornly hitting the glass again and again.

*Thump, thump.*

Every collision produced a sound.

He didn’t speak; he just watched the fruit. For some reason, he felt a bit melancholy and empty inside.

It was as if… he hadn’t accomplished anything at all.

But finally, he let out a bitter smile.

“See? I told you… there are no ghosts in this world…”