Chat Group

"Among our dozens of ghosts, it seems a living person has infiltrated."

At one in the morning, Gao Tian, who was still studying by the window, received a notification on his phone.

It was a message from a group member named "Ghost Cave."

Gao Tian glanced at his phone, intending to close the group's notifications.

This peculiar chat group, "Jialan Society," was one Gao Tian had joined about a month ago. He had just failed his college entrance exams and was preparing to repeat a year. He rented an apartment off-campus and joined a bunch of study groups for repeat students. He wasn't sure when, but he had ended up in this strange chat group called "Jialan Society."

He must have accidentally clicked on it, as it had nothing to do with studying.

The group members' names were all very strange, like "Ghost Infant," "Ghost Cave," "Living Person Apartment," "Burning Death Ghost." They often discussed bizarre and thrilling horror stories, such as car accidents at a certain time and place being supernatural events; a hospital where everyone was replaced by ghosts, yet still appeared to be operating normally to outsiders; a Vatican exorcism ritual that failed completely, and the reason they announced success to the outside world was because the priest had been invaded in reverse...

Occasionally, group members would send out "red envelopes." Normal red envelopes were a festive red, but this group's red envelopes were jet black with a faint border, looking somewhat like a coffin, very inauspicious. The names of the red envelopes were even more bizarre: "Supernatural Item," "Urn," "Spirit Absorption Pot," "Blood Shroud"...

Gao Tian had tried to claim one or two of these "black envelopes" before, but each time he clicked, a confirmation box would pop up, asking if Gao Tian was willing to pay a year of his lifespan. Although he didn't believe in ghosts and gods, he felt it was too ominous and gave up at the final step.

Until now, Gao Tian had never left the group. He figured they were probably enthusiasts of some niche subculture, and it was quite interesting to observe. It was just that the people in it were a bit obsessed, discussing these horror stories with great seriousness, with every detail accounted for, completely immersed. Sometimes, as he read, Gao Tian would even wonder if the stories they told were real.

Until today, seeing the serious tone of the group member named "Ghost Cave." Gao Tian couldn't help but chuckle inwardly, wondering what kind of trick they were playing now.

Had his identity finally been exposed after sneaking into this group for over a month?

[Ghost Infant]:

Ghost Cave, what evidence do you have?

[Ghost Cave]:

I don't know, intuition.

[Ghost Infant]:

(Sarcastic emoji)

If your intuition were that accurate, why would your wife and children have all died in the "Woman in the Rain" incident?

[Ghost Cave]:

I don't want to argue with you, Xiao Qianqian.

Don't try to provoke me on purpose.

Believe me, this month, while we've been chatting in the group, I've always felt a pair of living eyes watching us.

He's observing us.

This group cannot have living people in it. If there are living people, they must be killed.

[Living Person Apartment]:

@Ghost Cave, what are you planning to do?

Are you going to track down everyone in the group who isn't speaking through the internet and kill them?

[Ghost Cave]:

Too much trouble.

There are some big shots in the group I'm not familiar with, so it's best not to disturb them.

Besides, I don't have much time left, no time to waste on a living person.

How about this, I'll send out a "black packet" here, and all of you in the group should accept it.

This black packet is a curse. Anyone who clicks on this black packet will be hunted by a Vengeful Ghost called "Shattered Face" until they are killed.

[Ghost Infant]:

(Scared emoji)

Whimper, whimper, I'm so scared.

If I click on this emoji, will I also be hunted by that Vengeful Ghost?

[Ghost Cave]:

@Ghost Infant.

Are you an idiot?

You're already a ghost, you can't die again.

But that living person is different. As long as he clicks on the black packet, he's as good as dead.

If he chooses not to click on the black packet, his ID will be locked anyway. Ghost Infant, you can directly track him through the internet and kill him.

[Ghost Infant]:

(Admiring emoji)

[Ghost Cave]:

After killing the living person who infiltrated the group, don't forget to kick his account out of the group.

@Group Owner Living Person Apartment

User [Ghost Cave] sent a red envelope.

Seeing this, Gao Tian still found it somewhat amusing.

But for some reason, a cold sweat inexplicably broke out on his forehead.

"The weather's cooling down so fast."

Gao Tian stood up and casually closed the window.

When he returned to his seat, he found that [Living Person Apartment], [Ghost Infant], and over twenty other group members had claimed the red envelope sent by [Ghost Cave]. The number of group members who hadn't claimed the red envelope was dwindling, and more people were still claiming it.

So, should he claim this red envelope too, or pretend he didn't see it?

Gao Tian didn't really believe that a group member could actually come through the internet to kill him just because he accidentally joined the wrong group. But if he didn't claim the red envelope, Ghost Cave would quickly know he had infiltrated the group, and at the very least, the group owner would immediately kick him out.

To be honest, Gao Tian found the conversations in this group quite interesting. He didn't want to be kicked out so soon and wanted to continue seeing how many ghost stories these group members could come up with.

As he reached out to tap the red envelope, Gao Tian's fingertips began to sweat again.

For some reason, his temples were throbbing violently, and a very strange thought popped into Gao Tian's mind:

Is it possible that the group members are actually ghosts?

He thought they were telling stories, but in reality, they were recounting documentaries?

Gao Tian was startled by his own thought, then chuckled to himself.

According to Ghost Cave, not claiming the red envelope would expose his identity as a living person.

Death.

Claiming the red envelope would also open him up to a curse, and a vengeful ghost would soon come knocking.

Still death.

If this group was truly made up of ghosts, then no matter what choice Gao Tian made next, he was doomed, wasn't he?

In the group, all users had claimed Ghost Cave's red envelope, except for Gao Tian.

Time was running out for Gao Tian.

He had to make a choice.

Gao Tian tapped the red envelope.

A line of prompts popped up on his phone screen:

To claim this black packet, you need to pay 0 years of lifespan.

Do you voluntarily agree to pay?

The word "voluntarily" was specially bolded, as if to remind the user not to miss it.

It seemed these "ghosts" were quite reasonable. They could kill people, but they would never engage in forced sales.

For the past few dozen days, Gao Tian had felt extremely unlucky because of these ominous reminders, and he hadn't claimed a single user's black packet until now.

But he couldn't afford not to claim it today; if he didn't, he'd be kicked out by the group owner. Moreover, this time the black packet only cost 0 lifespan, so it wasn't particularly unlucky.

After claiming the black packet, his phone rapidly switched to an image, which suddenly appeared before Gao Tian--

It was a pale, large face.

It was impossible to tell if it was male or female because its skin was too pale, so pale it seemed to be shimmering. The features were almost indistinguishable, leaving only the outline of a face, like a blank sheet of paper.

The only chilling thing was that this faceless person had blood-red eyes with no pupils. They stared intently at Gao Tian through the screen, like two red dots stained onto a piece of paper.

[Living Person Apartment]:

@Ghost Cave

Everyone in the group has claimed your black packet.

No, it's all the ghosts.

[Ghost Infant]:

@Ghost Cave

I couldn't find that living person, sob sob.

I thought I'd have some work to do tonight.

[Ghost Cave]:

Heh heh.

Is that living person cunning? He's been silently watching our chat records.

Perhaps he's realized he's joined a ghost chat group, but he's disguised himself very well, rarely speaks, and never draws anyone's attention.

But it doesn't matter. As long as he clicked on that black packet, he's as good as dead.

Three days later, everyone in the group will pop up and say one sentence. Whoever doesn't speak is that living person, already killed by "Shattered Face."

[Ghost Infant]

@Ghost Cave

Honestly, I think you're a bit too suspicious.

Don't end up proving you spent all night fighting with thin air.

[Ghost Cave]

Heh.

Tonight, this strange chat group called the Jialan Society had no more users speaking.

Gao Tian looked at his phone. That eerie white face with red eyes had only popped up for a moment when he opened the red envelope, and had long since vanished without a trace.

For the next half hour, his attention was completely off the pen tip. On the English test's true/false questions, it was either T or F, but he got seven out of ten wrong. He might as well have guessed just one answer for all of them from the start.

Sensing his distraction, Gao Tian put down the test paper and glanced again at the black phone sitting on the corner of the desk.

Reading the chat logs of these group members, it really didn't seem like they were joking.

They genuinely wanted to find that extra person and kill them.

If, just if...

Even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance--

That every single word spoken by the members of this crazy group was real.

Gao Tian slowly stood up, wanting to calm himself down.

Just then, he looked out the third-floor window towards the street below. In the open space of the residential alley, a strange figure stood beneath the shadow of a streetlamp, looking in his direction.

It was a silhouette that made it impossible to tell if it was male or female. From this distance, the only thing that could be confirmed was that the person's face was very white, so white it seemed to glow, to the point where their features couldn't be discerned.

The "person's" eyes were a patch of blood red, with no pupils at all. They just stood below, looking up towards him on the third floor, unmoving.

Gao Tian's mind exploded with a BOOM.

Without a doubt, it was the monstrous figure from the red envelope photo, that thing that was almost human.

It took him a very short time, or rather, it took him nearly a month, to realize this group wasn't some niche subculture group. Every user in the group was a ghost, and the horror stories they spoke of, and their desire to kill the intruder through the internet, were all real.

He had only clicked on a red envelope and glanced at that white-faced photo. And now, the other party had found him downstairs so quickly.

Just as the Ghost Cave had said.

The Vengeful Ghost had arrived.