HAGLTP Chapter 63

A chilling sense of danger exploded, and Xiao Lu didn’t have time to look back. He pulled the two dazed individuals aside to dodge, simultaneously kicking the class monitor, who was still rolling on the ground like a ball, out of the way.

The sound of metal clashing against the floor was painfully grating.

Xiao Lu glanced back at the direction he had just been standing. There stood the tall and burly Principal Yang, holding a gleaming axe.

This axe was nothing like the fake prop he had used to scare people earlier; a dark red aura of blood swirled around its surface. With each step Principal Yang took, the blood dripping from his head formed a line on the ground.

Principal Yang was staring at them, his sunken eye sockets filled with pitch blackness, as if they contained the deepest darkness of the night.

“Run… bad students…”

Sherlock and Yang Huasheng looked at Xiao Lu with hopeful eyes:

“Male god, it’s time to show your real skills.”

Xiao Lu straightened up, took off his obstructive glasses, stuffed them into his lesson plan bag, and then, with a flick of his coat, turned and ran.

“What are you standing there for? Do you want to reason with him?”

As a fake medium, the most important thing was to know how to assess the situation; confronting this thing head-on was clearly unscientific.

The two big boys followed behind, cursing while trailing a ghost.

Yang Huasheng: “Why isn’t the male god making a move?!”

Sherlock: “Maybe we haven’t paid?”

Yang Huasheng: “Is he really that principled…”

Sherlock: “I’ve decided to learn this spirit of his, so I won’t be exploited by unscrupulous bosses when I enter society later.”

“But there’s a ghost behind us…” Although Yang Huasheng felt his friend’s words made sense, he still anxiously glanced back.

The ghost of the principal, wielding an axe that looked like it weighed dozens of pounds, was advancing at a steady pace, occasionally teleporting closer.

“Oh my god, he can teleport too, what do we do…” He helplessly hugged his curly hair.

Upon hearing this, Sherlock also glanced back, clearly quickening his pace.

Xiao Lu’s tone was calm: “Just run forward with me, don’t run off on your own.”

The two behind exchanged glances: This is going to be interesting.

Xiao Lu led the two boys and the ghost, swiftly moving up the stairs, reaching the staircase from the fifth floor to the fourth.

Xiao Lu looked back; Principal Yang was only a few meters away, and he lowered his voice to a level only they could hear: “Jump down.”

“Jump down directly?!”

“Yes, if you’re scared, just protect your head.”

This request was indeed a bit strange, and Sherlock and Yang Huasheng couldn’t help but exchange bewildered glances. But Xiao Lu didn’t have time to explain; he gave each of them a shove from behind, sending them on their way.

“Ah————”

His gaze fell on the class monitor, who had been quietly sitting in the corner.

The class monitor seemed to have a good-natured temperament, and when the “teacher” fixed his gaze on him, he instinctively curled up into a ball, making it easier for Xiao Lu to kick him down. He must have been a capable class monitor in life.

Xiao Lu didn’t hold back, giving him a kick, and the ghost fell quickly.

Principal Yang was already behind him, raising the axe towards Xiao Lu.

The stench of blood hit him.

Xiao Lu stood firm, watching him, and gracefully leaped back, his movements as light as a white heron skimming the water, deftly avoiding the axe that came crashing down.

The height of the stairs was nothing for someone who had practiced lightness skills in a martial arts world.

Seeing his prey repeatedly escape, Principal Yang was enraged. The black aura around him surged, his pitch-black eyes locked onto Xiao Lu as he strode forward.

This time, he was determined to eliminate this cunning prey.

But as he stepped onto the stairs, his expression suddenly changed.

“This place…”

“This place is…” As if awakening from a dream, Principal Yang looked around in panic.

The pale ceiling, the gray stone floor—this was the scene he had seen every day, and also… the last scene in his vision.

“Is it familiar? You died here.” Xiao Lu said solemnly to the frozen ghost.

Ghosts in this world are not invincible; they all have their weaknesses. They fear the things that killed them, and even a brutal figure like Principal Yang is no exception.

“Ah… ah… ah…………”

The black aura around Principal Yang grew thicker, while the outline of his human form became fainter. He was like a sugar figure melting under high heat, gradually disappearing on the stairs.

“Is it gone?” Yang Huasheng rubbed his eyes.

“Gone.” Sherlock replied affirmatively.

Faced with two pairs of inquisitive eyes, Xiao Lu reluctantly explained: “According to the information collected by Teacher Cui, this principal killed all the teachers and students, but he couldn’t escape himself. He fell between the fourth and fifth floors and broke his neck.”

“Hiss…” Sherlock touched his neck.

“Then is he dead?”

“No, he just dispersed; it will take some time to reassemble.”

Yang Huasheng: “The male god really has a good relationship with Teacher Cui; he’s willing to tell you everything.”

Xiao Lu: “…”

Although he was willing to tell him everything, that had nothing to do with their relationship. Thinking of that guy shamelessly asking for payment in the evening, he felt a pang of irritation, desperately needing to grind his teeth on some old fox’s celestial cover.

At that moment, a distant, ethereal bell rang.

The Autumn Twilight Hotel had no bell tower, and they hadn’t heard any bells the night before. Now the sound seemed to have crossed the barriers of time and space, clearly reaching their ears.

Thud.

A sound of something falling nearby.

Xiao Lu looked over, and the class monitor, who had been huddled in the corner, had vanished. In the spot he had occupied, an old, yellowed, brittle notebook had fallen.

Opening the notebook, the handwriting was neat, and each page was well-organized and refreshing, likely written by the class monitor himself.

This was a diary.

It recorded the class monitor’s mundane life, with the earlier entries detailing the daily routines of a student: attending classes, studying, and taking exams. The teachers were kind, the principal was generous, and he was satisfied with his new life at school.

As he flipped to the later pages, the content of the diary gradually became strange.

April 17.

The principal seems to be very busy lately; he didn’t even attend the morning meeting.

May 30.

I heard from Teacher Li that the principal has bought many books recently, perhaps planning to expand the library.

June 12.

I heard from the teachers in the office that the principal has been spending a lot of time alone on the top floor.

I haven’t seen him for nearly half a month; is he doing well?

September 4.

I accidentally overheard the principal talking to someone; he seems very concerned about the former owner, Mr. Yin Sen. I’ve heard some rumors about Mr. Yin, which are quite scary.

September 20.

In the evening, I ran into the principal in the small garden; he seemed a bit out of sorts and didn’t respond when I greeted him.

October 8.

The principal’s gaze towards us has been strange; it reminds me a bit of the foreign soldiers who attacked our village before.

A friend said it might be because he has military experience.

The diary ends here. Xiao Lu’s gaze fell on the date on the last page, October 8. He remembered seeing in the information provided by Cui Yunjin that the day the principal committed murder was October 9.

Yin Sen.

This name also appeared in Principal Yang’s notebook; it was the beginning of everything. He wondered what connection there was between him and Principal Yang’s massacre of the teachers and students.

And was Principal Yang’s bizarre death also related to Yin Sen?

Perhaps a visit to the top floor was in order.

Xiao Lu tucked the notebook away and called the two college students to leave with him. He had promised to bring back some material for Yueyue; otherwise, the cross-dressing big shot would follow him.

·

In the dead of night, as they were sharing their experiences of the night at Yueyue’s request, a scream interrupted them.

Cui Yunjin turned on the light: “It seems to be a girl with Guo and Jiang.”

The group stepped outside and found that almost everyone was in an uproar from the scream.

A beautiful woman in a spaghetti strap nightgown was terrified, leaning against Guo and Jiang, her face pale and on the verge of tears, looking pitiful. However, seeing the sour expression and silent eye rolls of another woman nearby, Xiao Lu felt that this beauty might not be as scared as she appeared.

People can’t make a sound when they are terrified to the extreme.

Only in movies do beautiful women scream for no reason.

However, he wasn’t interested in the gossip of the rich; he was more concerned about what had actually happened.

Surrounded by the crowd was a closed wooden door, which looked unremarkable, but beneath it was a pool of spilled blood, exuding a strong metallic scent.

“Who lives here?” Guo and Jiang frowned and asked.

“It seems to be that male internet celebrity’s assistant,” Gu Anzhou recalled clearly.

Guo and Jiang looked around: “What about that male internet celebrity? I think his name is Haigou?”

Only then did everyone realize it wasn’t just Haigou. The photographer who had come with him was also missing.

“Open the door.” Guo and Jiang frowned.

The butler stepped forward to open the door, and the stench of blood inside grew stronger.

On the bed lay a blood-colored shadow, the sheets covered in scratch marks, as if a bloodied person had struggled there. The traces of the struggle led from the bed to the door, then abruptly stopped at the door. At that moment, there was no one else in the room apart from the bloodstains.

The assistant seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Everyone was in shock and fear, but Xiao Lu was already aware. In the original plot, this assistant was the second to die, and the manner of death was exactly the same as what they were witnessing now.

The focus of this novel is on the residents struggling to survive under the attacks of ghosts, without detailing which specific ghost was responsible.

But from the traces left on the bed and in the room, it was clear that this ghost did not wish for its prey to die instantly. Instead, it seemed to enjoy the process of their dying struggles.

It was a ghost even more malicious than Principal Yang.

As everyone was discussing calling the police.

It was a given that one should report a death, but this hotel was owned by Guo and Jiang, and everyone was invited guests. No one was hot-headed enough to want to escalate the situation, knowing the potential consequences. They didn’t want to offend a rich second generation, so their words were very tactful.

Xiao Lu quietly watched them discuss, already knowing the outcome of this discussion.

He looked out at the still-pouring rain; their phone calls were destined to go unanswered.

·

In the downpour, a figure soaked to the skin was advancing.

It was the previously self-satisfied Haigou, now looking panicked, his face even paler than the beauty leaning against Guo and Jiang.

As a supernatural streamer, he had explored countless haunted houses. Most were just rumors, of course, he wouldn’t reveal the truth but would play along with the bizarre tales, continuing to let the haunted house’s reputation grow.

There were indeed some things that were hard to explain scientifically, but they were mostly harmless. Even the occasional accident could boost his popularity.

But this place was different.

Earlier, he, the assistant, and the photographer had followed their usual routine of finding an empty room to play a game of “Four Corners,” where the three of them stood in the corners of the room, advancing in turn, tapping the shoulder of the person in front, and coughing to indicate they were “it.”

Everything went smoothly; they were very familiar with this game, even knowing when to stop making noise. They could perform as if there were ghosts even without any present.

During the last round, the assistant suddenly said someone was touching his face, then claimed to have seen a figure in the room’s mirror. His expression of fear was so genuine that it made Haigou feel good, and he even thought about giving him a raise.

But when he returned, the assistant, pale-faced, said he wanted to find a master to take a look.

At that moment, the only master in the hotel was the one Yueyue had brought. Haigou had nearly torn his face with Yueyue, so he naturally wouldn’t allow his assistant to seek help. He stuffed the assistant with a talisman that was supposedly blessed by the master and sent him on his way.

The next day, the assistant didn’t come out, and he thought he was just scared stiff, continuing to film material with the photographer, planning to replace him with a bolder assistant after this.

But that night, he heard it.

From the assistant’s room next door came sounds like muffled sobs, as if someone was covering their mouth, along with the sounds of nails scratching the floor and flesh tearing.

When he opened the door to take a look, he heard the sound of nails scratching against the door panel, again and again, as if they were digging into his ears.

Through the door, he could still hear the assistant’s low sobs; he knew the assistant was still alive, but he didn’t dare to open the door.

Because at that moment, the thing that had turned the assistant into this state was certainly still inside.

He just wanted to escape.

There really were ghosts here!

It was terrifying; Haigou began to doubt whether they could survive this.

Haigou grabbed nothing but his car keys, not even taking the time to change his shoes. He dashed into the downpour in his slippers and pajamas.

He needed to drive away now.

The road was difficult to navigate; days of heavy rain had left the ground outside the hotel muddy.

When he arrived, it had been a dry day. He hadn’t thought the distance between the hotel and the parking lot was far, but once the rain started, that short distance felt unbearably long.

He trudged through the mud, his slippers getting stuck in a puddle, but he couldn’t afford to turn back to retrieve them; he continued barefoot.

The stones in the mud cut into his soles, but Haigou didn’t care.

As long as he could leave.

When a large number of his cars finally came into view, Haigou was so excited he nearly cried. He dashed forward and pulled open the car door.

Once seated in the driver’s seat, he felt a sense of survival, as if he had experienced some intense stimulation, exhilarated to the point of forgetting everything. At that moment, he vaguely heard a scream coming from the direction of the hotel, thinking it was probably just another unfortunate soul encountering a ghost.

But that had nothing to do with him, because he was about to—

The ignition failed.

Failed again.

As his overly excited brain cooled down, Haigou finally noticed that the car was filled with moisture, even the seat cushions were soaked, as if they had been completely submerged in water.

How could this be? He was currently positioned halfway up the mountain.

“Click—”

The sound of the car door locking crisply pierced Haigou’s eardrums.

Haigou looked at his hands; he hadn’t pressed anything.

A soft laugh echoed, clear and distinct, coming from above.

Haigou held his breath, stiffly raised his head, but found nothing on the roof of the car. He let out a long breath, but just as he was about to retract his gaze, his eyes froze at the position of the rearview mirror.

He thought he had just seen a figure.

But upon closer inspection, there was nothing.

“Illusion, it must be because I’m too nervous…” Haigou nervously repeated, as if self-hypnotizing.

“Hehe…” This time, the laughter was even clearer.

Because the voice was right next to his ear.