Chapter 10: Monster
In the pitch-black campus, a group of nine people were moving around like cornered mice.
At first, they could occasionally hear cries and screams coming from different directions of the school, but as time went on, these sounds became fewer and fewer...
And for some reason, Chu Jiang and the others felt like the path beneath their feet had become longer.
Even though it was dark now, Chu Jiang and the others had lived here for three years; for example, the cobblestone path they were currently walking on was only about a hundred or so steps long in everyone's memory.
But at this moment, they had already been walking on this road for five or six minutes, but they still couldn't reach the end.
A female classmate named Zhang Zihan, suppressing her fear, asked, "Did we encounter a haunted maze?"
The others paused for a moment, most of them comforting her with words, not directly answering her question, because everyone knew the answer in their hearts.
Some people started to regret as well. This school was becoming more and more terrifying and unfamiliar. If only they had known, they would have stayed behind in the boys' dormitory.
Chu Jiang walked at the very front, his expression getting more and more grim. This was just impossible. Could they really survive today?
In this atmosphere of despair, Cheng Jie approached Chu Jiang from behind and whispered, "I'm sorry."
There were complex emotions in her tone, as if if she didn't say it now, she might not have another chance to say it later.
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Chu Jiang didn't turn around, only using the faint light from his phone screen to illuminate the path ahead.
"You know, in our freshman year, I was in the wrong. And I shouldn't have called you a monster, I'm sorry..." Cheng Jie's tone contained self-blame, as well as a feeling of relief from something that had been buried in her heart for a long time and could finally be expressed now.
This was why Chu Jiang had a problem with Cheng Jie.
In the first year of high school, near the end of the term, during a self-study class.
Chu Jiang remembered that day he had a cold and felt a bit dizzy, but he still insisted on going to school.
Cheng Jie wasn't the class monitor back then, but she still had a group of close female friends around her.
Cheng Jie's seat was behind Chu Jiang, and she was whispering to the girl next to her during self-study, not knowing what they were talking about.
Chu Jiang was already having a hard time focusing because of the dizziness, and now there was chattering behind him. So he turned around and stared at two girls and softly said, "Don't make noise."
The two were quiet immediately after being scolded by Chu Jiang, and the remaining classes were very quiet.
However, the next day, a female classmate who was close to Cheng Jie deliberately came over to report to Chu Jiang. Her exact words were, "Cheng Jie said you were staring at her like a monster."
This classmate said it in a casual tone, as if she accidentally let it slip, and she giggled and asked Chu Jiang to keep it a secret.
Chu Jiang didn't understand the complicated relationships between these female classmates, but he didn't want to accuse anyone wrongly, so he specifically asked Cheng Jie about it.
However, Cheng Jie just stumbled and avoided the question, indirectly confirming the truth of the rumors.
Since then, the two of them hardly spoke to each other, until today.
At this moment, in such a desperate situation, Chu Jiang couldn't help but smile when he heard Cheng Jie's apology, "You should have said this earlier."
"Alright, don't worry too much. I'll try my best to get us out of here."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Jiang's face turned extremely pale for some unknown reason.
Chu Jiang suddenly stopped, and Cheng Jie accidentally bumped into his shoulder.
But this time, Cheng Jie didn't ask why anymore. She cautiously raised her phone and then saw... a ghostly figure.
A tall, thin figure, over three meters tall, with a hunched back and only three deep black holes for its facial features.
As soon as Slender Man appeared, the lights on everyone's phones started flickering, making a buzzing sound, as if something was disturbing them.
At the same time, they heard creepy sounds like wailing, cries for help, chewing, and other unsettling noises; they also smelled disgusting odors like blood, decay, and rot.
Their bodies felt icy cold, stiff, and numb, and a foul darkness invaded them. Their consciousness trembled, as if they were facing the most terrifying presence in the world.
The stone slabs on the ground underwent eerie changes in sync. They rapidly aged, as if several hundred years of merciless destruction had occurred in an instant. The slabs cracked, faded, and became mottled.
The slabs that were supporting the weight of the group even turned to dust.
In Chu Jiang's heart, there was only despair.
The worst possible outcome happened - they were found by Slender Man!
This was a real ghost, and also the scariest ghost in the school, the origin of all the lockdowns.
Without a doubt, Chu Jiang knew that Slender Man was a hundred times stronger than the ghost tree. In terms of power, influence, and the sense of oppression it brought, it exceeded everything by a wide margin.
The scariest thing was, the ghost in front seemed to be able to control time, making it stop or go backwards.
Before, at Luoxi No. 7 Middle School, everyone was stuck in a frozen state, it was their first time seeing Slender Man, ignoring the distance.
At that time, the ghost seemed to be searching for something, if it wasn't for a bell sound grabbing their attention, everyone would have been wiped out at that moment.
If they had encountered other ghosts from the school, Chu Jiang wouldn't have been so desperate, at least he had the black diary.
But encountering Slender Man, even with nine diaries, Chu Jiang didn't stand a chance fighting against him, the difference between them was too great to calculate.
"Run, don't look back." Chu Jiang struggled to say these words, he felt like in front of this ghost, even his body wasn't his own anymore, even if the other just stood still.
Li Yan, Cheng Jie, and the others held back their tears, turned around slowly and tried to escape, some fell to the ground but still crawled forward, digging their fingers into the soil.
With their slow escape speed, everyone was doomed.
Suddenly, Slender Man moved, and that oppressive feeling weakened; the other eight, except for Chu Jiang, ran even more desperately, only Chu Jiang ran towards a diagonal direction.
He knew very well that he would probably have to stay here for a long time.
He was unwilling, extremely unwilling, gripping the diary tightly, his fingernails twisting.
Chu Jiang made up his mind that even if he died, he would take a bite of flesh from the other person!
"Pfft~!"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Chu Jiang heard a sharp object piercing through flesh.
He was familiar with this sound; when Teacher Yu was pierced by the ghost tree, she made the same sound.
