Chapter 16: The End of the Nightmare
Slender Man didn't turn around to chase Chu Jiang and the others, even though it seemed like it wanted to kill everyone.
Perhaps, in its eyes, these few lives were no different from ants; at least compared to that eerie sound, Chu Jiang and the others were insignificant and could be dealt with whenever.
However... it was precisely because they were insignificant that ants sometimes could not choose their own fate.
For example, right now, as they kept running, Chu Jiang and the others noticed changes happening inside the school.
In the school, everything, including what was inside, was sparkling. It was like an old television that was malfunctioning, with the images on the screen flickering, as if they could go out at any moment.
And now, Chu Jiang and the others were like the images on the screen. When Chu Jiang realized this, he immediately stopped with everyone else.
He looked at his body and his hands in fear. He didn't know what would happen next, but he had a very bad feeling about it.
Everything in Luoxi No. 7 Middle School was flickering, and it was because Slender Man was getting further away.
The only thing that remained unchanged was the black diary in Chu Jiang's right hand. It stayed there peacefully, as if no supernatural power could affect it.
As the frequency of the flickering in their bodies got faster, the others began to panic completely.
"What's happening? What is this?"
"Are we going to die?"
Chu Jiang clenched his teeth and stared at the diary. There must be a way, there must be!
If they couldn't come up with a solution, they would all die here, just like him.
Seal, seal... mix, mix... make them connect together...
Suddenly, Chu Jiang had a bright idea, he remembered his last scene before dying!
This made Chu Jiang's eyes widen, he immediately used his finger to draw a long scar on his left arm and poured blood on the cover of the black diary.
Then, Chu Jiang hurriedly grabbed the hands of the others, cut their arms, and made them tightly stick their wounds to the diary.
Cheng Jie and the others didn't understand, but out of trust in Chu Jiang, not a single person resisted. They even didn't need him to explain and voluntarily pressed their wounds closely to the diary.
The scene inside the school flickered and then disappeared silently, everything vanished.
What did this mean? The entire Luoxi City No. 7 Middle School, covering an area of nearly 50,000 square meters! Except for the front and back gates and a surrounding wall, everything inside disappeared, the ground was flat as if it had been plowed, not even a single brick was left.
Chu Jiang and the other three were stunned when they saw this scene.
Yes, they remained and were not taken away by any of Slender Man's barriers or realms.
The reason was Chu Jiang's black diary.
After realizing what was happening, Chu Jiang quickly pushed everyone's hands away, and in just a moment, their already pale faces turned even paler. Gao Yifei even stumbled and nearly fainted.
Chu Jiang put the insatiable diary back into his bag, and once he confirmed that everyone's condition didn't worsen further, he let out a sigh of relief.
What happened just now was simple. Chu Jiang remembered that when he was near death, the black diary greedily consumed his blood.
So, if he wasn't near death and willingly fed it blood, would it drink it or not?
Similarly, if someone who didn't open the diary willingly fed it blood, would it drink it or not?
The result was already clear. This Ghost Diary took it all. It didn't matter who you were, as long as you willingly offered, it would devour your blood and life force.
During this devouring process, Chu Jiang and the diary established a connection on a supernatural level, becoming a temporary "whole".
In this way, Slender Man's barrier wanted to take away Chu Jiang and the others, so they must cut off the connection; or take the black diary away together.
If Slender Man didn't go after the sound of the bell, but stayed to cut off the connection with all its might, perhaps it could leave the four people behind.
But now the ghost's target was clearly not Chu Jiang and the others, it even disappeared without a trace, just letting the barrier run on its own.
In this situation, the connection was not cut off, and the black diary itself could not be taken away, so naturally Chu Jiang and the four others were left behind.
It was 7 o'clock in the evening, and they finally escaped from this terrifying nightmare...
Although it was night, the busy city lights could be seen with a glance; the sound of police sirens and barking dogs could also be heard in the distance, the world was finally no longer silent.
Looking at the various searchlights shining into the school campus, Chu Jiang helped everyone clean their wounds while saying, "I hope you promise me one thing, after going out, don't expose my secret, including the diary and my right hand."
Cheng Jie and the others all nodded repeatedly, Chu Jiang was their lifesaver, and they could understand his attitude of not wanting to be taken away for research.
Actually, it wouldn't be able to stay secret for long, Chu Jiang was very clear about this, he just had other considerations, and at that moment, his phone rang.
He took it out and looked at it. It showed that it was a call from his mom, and at the same time, many missed calls and messages popped up on his phone.
Chu Jiang took a deep breath and answered, "Sorry, Mom. I went out to eat with my classmates. My phone just happened to run out of battery."
"Oh my goodness, you scared me! Mom thought something happened to you. You're usually home by six o'clock, at the latest six-thirty."
"I was actually thinking of calling the police, but your dad said it wasn't necessary. He said to wait for another half an hour, and that a big kid like you wouldn't have any problems."
"Anyway, finish your meal and come back early next time. Even if your phone dies, borrow someone else's phone to let us know, understand?"
The voice coming from the phone was that of an ordinary middle-aged woman. Her tone was warm, and it made Chu Jiang, who had just experienced a close call, want to cry.
"Mmm, I'm going to sing at KTV with my friends later, so I might come back later. Don't worry about it."
When they saw Chu Jiang start making a call, the others immediately snapped back to reality and began contacting their own families.
As for Chu Jiang, after hanging up the phone, he slightly narrowed his eyes. Just as he had suspected.
According to logic, the parents of the students would have known about the major incident at the school by now.
However, based on Chu Jiang's conversation with his mother, it was clear that their family had no idea about the school incident. Obviously, someone was preventing the rapid spread of the news.
The reason for this was simple, to prevent causing panic among the masses.
Moreover, similar supernatural events must have happened before. Otherwise, the authorities wouldn't be so experienced and would not have established a complete emergency mechanism.
Chu Jiang thought to himself, "That's right," he couldn't believe that this group of people was the world's first to encounter a ghostly incident.
Actually, this was a fortunate circumstance in an unfortunate situation. It proved that humans had some resistance against ghosts and shouldn't simply engage in mass slaughter.
While pondering, two figures slowly approached from the direction of the school gate.
