Chapter 2: Ghost Story

The pot bubbled and hissed, emitting the authentic aroma of hot pot. The three of them were salivating and kept adding ingredients to the pot. Before the food was fully cooked, they couldn't resist picking at it, with Xiong Lei Lei and Lan Xin praising the food as they ate.1

Jia Jia asked, "I recommended this place, isn't the taste good?"1

Both nodded in agreement.

A waiter brought a few more small dishes.1Jia Jia was puzzled, "I didn't order these?"1"The owner sent them for us."1

"Thank you on my behalf."1

The three of them silently commended the owner.1

Next to their table was a group of students, three boys and three girls. One of the boys, who had been drinking, was particularly excited and started singing into a beer bottle, with the others cheering him on.1Xiong Lei Lei complained, "They're so loud!"1Jia Jia said, "Don't pay attention to them. They're good kids at school, but once they're outside, they show their true colors."1

Lan Xin laughed, "They're young and crazy, you envy them!"1

"I'm only eighteen!"1

Lan Xin almost choked.1

Another boy with glasses at the neighboring table said, "The song is over, and it's boring. I'll tell you a ghost story."1

The table went quiet, and a girl in a red skirt said, "If you're going to tell one, tell it. I'm not afraid."1

Lan Xin, who was always interested in supernatural stories, became excited.1

The boy with glasses began his story.1"Have you ever heard that this school killed many people twenty years ago?"1

The others shook their heads, "Just tell us!"1"My grandfather used to be the dormitory supervisor here. He said that back then, a top-tier rich businessman in the city wanted to repay the school's kindness by building the largest library in the city. Money and workers were all in place. They brought in a feng shui master to choose a location for the building. The workers started digging the foundation and stopped at about two meters deep. Can you guess why?"1

"Did they hit an ancient tomb?"1

"No tomb, but a treasure."1

At this point, many people in the restaurant were listening to their story.1

The others asked, "What treasure?"1

"It was a brand-new wooden box."1

"Oh, I thought it was a big tomb."1

"Listen, before the school was established, this area was a barren wasteland with no inhabitants. The school has a seventy-year history, and the box must have been around for decades, yet it was brand new, with not even a chip off the paint."1

Everyone grew tense.1

"Then what? What was in the box?"1

"The workers thought they had found a treasure and dug deeper, but they didn't find anything else. Curious, they opened the box and found a necklace, a bracelet, and a book inside. Both chains had gemstones the size of pigeon eggs."1

"Wow! Treasure! Antiquities!"1

"No, the workers didn't know the value of the gems and handed them over to the school. The school brought in experts to examine them, but they couldn't determine the era they were from, and the composition of the gems was said to be unknown. The book was filled with strange patterns."1

"Oh my god! Could it be aliens?"1

The boy shook his head, "No one knows, the experts couldn't identify it, so they planned to hand it over to a more authoritative institution for verification. But then strange things started happening. Overnight, everyone who had touched the gems either died or went insane. The whole school was in a panic. The school was afraid of making the situation worse, so they claimed there was a burglar on campus to ensure student safety and would be closing the school. They then reported the incident to the police, but the police couldn't find any leads."1

"It can't be that coincidental, is it? Really a ghost?" Another girl asked.1

"It gets even scarier. After that, people kept disappearing. They died, but there were always bodies. The police sent many people to search, but they found nothing. To avoid causing more panic, they blocked all the news. Later, some