Temporary Lecture

At eight o'clock in the evening, the school held self-study.

Because he had stayed up too late reading that forum story yesterday, Yang Jian spent the entire next day at school yawning listlessly. Whenever he wanted to sleep during class, that photo of the old man would always surface in his mind. In his daze, he seemed to feel those hollow, deathly eyes watching him from somewhere.

With a shudder, he became alert again.

Still can't sleep. That photo really is creepy.

"Heh, heh heh, Yang Jian, can I have a word?" A head leaned over from beside him. It belonged to a tall, skinny student.

His name was Zhang Wei, Yang Jian's deskmate.

Yang Jian asked in confusion, "What do you mean, have a word?"

"Heh, stop pretending. You've been yawning all day. You must have done too many shameful things last night."

Zhang Wei patted him on the shoulder and lowered his voice. "What good stuff did you get lately? Hurry up and share it. Let your brother have some fun too."

"Fun my ass," Yang Jian said. "I was reading a ghost story on my phone yesterday, so I went to bed late."

"A ghost story? Speaking of ghost stories, Yang Jian, have you heard about that paranormal incident in a residential complex in the city a while back?" A classmate nearby leaned over.

"What paranormal incident?" Yang Jian asked. "How come I haven't heard about it?"

"I know about that too," Zhang Wei said. "Apparently, several people in a residential complex hanged themselves together overnight. Their bodies were hanging from the security bars, like cured meat drying in the sun. Creepy as hell. I even have a photo from there, though I don't know if it's real."

As he spoke, he took out his phone, opened the photo album, and pulled up a picture.

The photo had been taken at dusk, and the poor lighting in the complex made it rather blurry. Even so, they could make out human-shaped silhouettes hanging one after another from the security bars of a balcony, densely packed in a row. The faces of the corpses were faintly visible, twisted and horrifying. Their eyes in particular were wide open with terror, as though no one knew what they had experienced before dying.

From afar, the bodies really did look like cured meat hanging out to dry. What was even stranger was that their heads were inside the security bars while their bodies hung below them. Given the gaps between the bars, there was no way an adult could have squeezed through.

And their heads were tilted backward in an eerie posture, as if their necks had been snapped.

The more closely one looked, the more uneasy and frightened one became. This photo had something in common with the photo of the old man in a long robe on Yang Jian's phone—it could stir up people's emotions.

"Holy shit, where did you get that photo? How come I couldn't find it?" the classmate beside them asked.

Zhang Wei said smugly, "A friend of mine took it while passing by. The place has been sealed off now, so they won't let anyone take pictures anymore. If you want it, call me Dad and I'll give it to you. Also, stop calling me impotent. I recently picked an English name."

"Then I have an English name too: Wo Shabi. Remember, from now on, shout my English name loudly whenever you see me on the street."

"Why are you two so outstanding when we all went through nine years of compulsory education?" Yang Jian said.

"Yang Jian, we went to tutoring classes. You can't learn this," Zhang Wei said proudly.

"Speaking of paranormal incidents, I've heard a lot of people talking about them online lately. They make it sound so real that some of them scare me too much to keep reading. Do you think these things are real or fake? Could some places really be haunted?"

A female classmate named Miao Xiaoshan leaned over and asked.

"Most stories online are fake," Yang Jian said. "Unless I see it with my own eyes, I won't believe ghosts exist in this world. Still, it's better to believe such things might exist than not. If you really run into something like that, it's best to stay far away."

"That makes sense." Miao Xiaoshan nodded.

"Stop talking. Quiet down."

At that moment, Teacher Wang shouted and strode into the classroom. "The school has issued a temporary notice. Tonight's self-study session has been changed to a safety awareness lecture, mainly about student safety precautions. I don't want to hear anyone talking or disrupting classroom discipline during the lecture. Now, let's welcome Mr. Zhou Zheng to give us a lesson. Please applaud."

Hmm?

Yang Jian applauded while feeling puzzled. A safety lecture this late at night?

But when Zhou Zheng, the man who was supposed to lecture them, entered the classroom, Yang Jian's eyelids twitched.

This man named Zhou Zheng wore a gray trench coat wrapped tightly around his body and a face mask. It was the height of summer. Some kind of identification hung from his chest, but what drew attention was his frightening appearance. His face was extraordinarily gaunt, little more than skin and bones. The shape and contours of his facial bones were practically visible, with not an ounce of excess flesh on his face. Because he was so thin, his eyes appeared enormous, bloodshot, as though he had not slept for many days.

Yet beneath that gaunt face, his belly was swollen high.

It looked like a beer belly full of fat, but someone with a beer belly should not have been this skinny.

It was abnormal—strangely abnormal—and it stirred unease in people's hearts.

At that moment, Zhou Zheng stood on the podium radiating an air of gloom, exhaustion, and numbness. His entire body was stiff and motionless, while his bloodshot eyes shifted slightly like two dim glass marbles.

Wherever his gaze passed, every student felt an inexplicable fear.

Yang Jian unconsciously clenched his fists. His whole body tensed, and he did not dare meet Zhou Zheng's eyes. This feeling is even stronger than the one I felt facing that photo.

"Hello, students. My name is Zhou Zheng. I am the person in charge of Dachang City, and I'm very glad to be standing here alive today to give you a lecture."

Zhou Zheng finally spoke. His voice was dry, hoarse, and piercing, like glass scraping across the ground. Combined with his incredibly gaunt face, it made people's hair stand on end.

Standing here alive to give a lecture?

Yang Jian's heart tightened. Why did that sound so strange?

Zhou Zheng picked up a piece of chalk, turned around, and wrote a large character on the blackboard. It was sloppy, yet exceptionally clear:

Ghosts!

"Legends of Ghost Monsters have existed since ancient times. They are not only found in our country's history, but in the histories of every nation. My knowledge of history is not very good, and I can't tell you much about ancient matters. You only need to understand what I mean."

Zhou Zheng's voice remained hoarse and grating as he continued at an unhurried pace, "But now, there are some things you have no choice but to believe. In recent years, paranormal incidents have increased explosively. This is no longer just a matter of one or two incidents. It is gradually developing into a global catastrophe. If the situation cannot be effectively controlled, perhaps the whole world will have no future."

Everyone was somewhat taken aback by those words.

How had this safety lecture turned into a ghost story convention?

He was even claiming that the world was going to end.

Not only the students, even Teacher Wang was stunned.

"It is inconvenient for me to say more about these matters, and you should not ask. Please remember what I am about to say. This safety lecture may save your lives in the future."

Zhou Zheng did not continue speaking. Instead, he turned and wrote another sentence on the blackboard: Ghosts cannot be killed.

"In the near future, you may encounter a situation you never want to encounter—for example, meeting a ghost. Though this may be discouraging, remember this: ghosts cannot be killed. So even in extreme terror, do not think about fighting that thing to the death. Your lives are worth less than nothing before them. Killing you is as easy as stepping on a few ants. No, even easier. Perhaps with a blink of an eye or a snap of their fingers, you'll be finished."

His weary, bloodshot eyes stared at every student as he spoke these words with utter seriousness. Then he turned and wrote a second sentence on the blackboard.

"Only ghosts can deal with ghosts."

Zhou Zheng continued, "If ghosts cannot be killed, then the technological power possessed by every country will be useless. Bombs, even nuclear weapons—none of them will work. If scientists in every country cannot decipher 'ghosts' in the future, then for now, using ghosts to deal with ghosts is the only method. I know you have doubts, and some of you may even think I have gone insane. But that is not important. What matters is that you listen to me and firmly remember these words. You will need them someday."

"Of course, I hope you will never need them."

"Yang Jian, what is this guy talking about? Why can't I understand any of it?" Zhang Wei whispered beside him.

"I don't understand it either," Yang Jian said. "But after hearing all this, I just feel uneasy."

"Could the Earth have mutated? Like in the novels?" Zhang Wei asked.

"Probably not," Yang Jian said hesitantly.

Although he had fantasized about immortals appearing and superpowers existing, if such things truly existed, fear was unavoidable. After all, they posed an enormous threat to ordinary people.

On the podium, Zhou Zheng continued, "Since ghosts cannot be killed and possess extraordinary abilities, then combining these two facts raises a question: if an ordinary person is targeted by a ghost, how can they survive? This is the key point. I hope you remember it forever—preferably for the rest of your lives."

After saying that, he turned and wrote a third sentence: Understand the patterns of ghosts.

"Everything has patterns to follow, and ghosts are no exception. Research data shows that every ghost has an almost fixed method of killing and acting, just like a computer program. You have to press the power button for a computer to run, and click the mouse to open software. Overcome your fear, understand the patterns of ghosts, and find their weaknesses. This is the only chance an ordinary person has of surviving after being targeted by a ghost."

"Remember, if a ghost comes for you, there is no way for you to survive except this one. Don't count on luck. Those things are more terrifying than you can imagine."

He repeated it once more in a grave tone.