Chapter 51: No Ghost in Sight
In the early morning, Chu Jiang struggled to sit up in bed, gasping for breath. He tidied up the room, which was covered in blood splatters, including some on the ceiling.
He couldn't delay any longer. He needed to find a solution for the danger he was in, even if it was just a temporary fix.
Fortunately, the situation at Linjiang Hotel had also been resolved. Now, Chu Jiang couldn't stay in Luozhou City any longer. He needed to find a safer city and consider joining Research Institute No. 21.
Before coming here, Chu Jiang thought it would be easier to meet people involved in the supernatural circle and maybe find other ways to resolve his problems.
However, he had only encountered the local representative of the Ghost Masters. Also, Chu Jiang had learned about the curse placed upon him through the Ghost Diary.
The longer he stayed in this place, the more dangerous it became. Who knows, if he didn't go and search for the ghosts involved in those several supernatural incidents, they might come looking for him instead.
Now looking back, he hadn't resolved anything - not the Stretching Ghost, nor the Ghost Chess Game, nor the crying ghost. He should go to a relatively safer place and think of a solution there.
Of course, before leaving, Chu Jiang thought it would be a relatively good choice to deal with the Stretching Ghost. Otherwise, leaving it unresolved would always be a threat.
But if you want Chu Jiang to take a bus and search the city for Stretching Ghost, it's better not to do that.
After packing his things, Chu Jiang prepared to go downstairs and check out.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Jie called at that moment.
These past few days, the rest of the students in Class 12 chatted to varying degrees, everything seemed normal.
As for the matter Chu Jiang asked Cheng Jie to inquire about, she already talked to Chu Jiang about it in a private chat.
According to what Cheng Jie said, Zhang Haoran's mental state seemed to have returned to normal. But he's not talking, not uttering a single word, as if he become mute.
But other classmates can confirm that Zhang Haoran is definitely awake and rational.
Chu Jiang also asked Gao Yifei, who has a broken hand. According to Gao Yifei, when Zhang Haoran visited him that day, he talked a lot incoherently and fragmentedly, constantly comforting him.
Following Chu Jiang's instructions, Gao Yifei also comforted Zhang Haoran well.
The next day, Zhang Haoran looked much better.
Right after that, Li Buhuo and Xu Bing, two supervisors, came to the hospital to speak with Gao Yifei and Zhang Haoran separately.
Gao Yifei was mentally prepared and handled it well, everything was normal.
But Zhang Haoran, on the other hand, didn't say a word once those two left.
......
Just then, Cheng Jie called early in the morning, Chu Jiang guessed it was about Zhang Haoran and immediately answered his phone.
"Hello, Chu Jiang, Zhang Haoran is gone! Those people took him away," Cheng Jie's voice sounded worried.
Chu Jiang frowned, "What happened? Please explain slowly."
"Well, remember how you asked me to ask Zhang Haoran what exactly happened at school last time?"
"But at that time, he didn't say a word, so I had to give up."
"And then early this morning, before the sky was even bright, suddenly police officers came to my house. They said Zhang Haoran wanted to see me and asked me to go over."
"At that time, I thought Zhang Haoran was in trouble, maybe close to dying, so I nervously got into the police car and went with them to the hospital."
"Turns out, I didn't expect it, but Zhang Haoran was perfectly fine."
"But at the hospital, I saw a lot of people. There were people dressed in black suits, looking like killers; there were people in white coats and glasses, looking like researchers; and there were some heavily armed soldiers as well."
"I didn't know why the hospital was surrounded by so many people and why Zhang Haoran seemed to be surrounded by them."
"I also didn't understand whether they were trying to protect Zhang Haoran or guarding against him, to prevent him from causing any major trouble at the city hospital."
"At that time, Zhang Haoran was in a private room, sitting by the bedside, waiting for me with a calm expression."
"I asked him what had happened?"
"But he shook his head and didn't speak. He just answered the question I had asked him before: What really happened at school?"
"After describing everything in great detail, he asked me for a favor."
"His exact words were: Next, I might be taken to a very special place where they will study the secrets in me."
"Even though they promised me that they wouldn't hurt me and offered me all kinds of benefits, I don't trust them."
"After this incident, the only people I can trust besides my family are you, my classmates from Class 2 in Grade 12."
"If possible, I really want to talk to Chu Jiang. He should be able to understand what's happening to me."
"But I don't have the chance now, they don't allow me to communicate with the outside world without permission."
"So I can only call you here, explain some things, and then we will leave this city with them."
"Tell Chu Jiang everything I've said, okay?"
"Finally, I thanked him a lot, because if he hadn't grabbed me at the edge of the cliff, I would have fallen into the abyss and been completely broken."
"Oh, and make sure Chu Jiang survives, he must survive!"
"I don't have many friends left, losing one means one less. He said this to me, and now I'm returning this sentence to him, hoping that we will have another chance to meet."
After Cheng Jie finished speaking, Chu Jiang furrowed his eyebrows and fell into deep thought.
Was Zhang Haoran taken away by people from Research Institute No. 21? What secrets does Zhang Haoran have that are worth such a huge effort from the institute?
Those people should definitely be from the institute, otherwise the police wouldn't cooperate with them.
Seeing that Chu Jiang remained silent, Cheng Jie organized his words and recounted Zhang Haoran's experiences at school.
According to Zhang Haoran's account, he never saw ghosts at school. Instead, he could only see corpses that moved on their own.
Furthermore, after some time, those corpses would disappear without a trace.
So Zhang Haoran didn't believe in ghosts at the beginning. He thought it was a "crazy scientist's plot", like "zombie outbreaks" or "invisible killing machines".
His comments made the other students think of him as if he were crazy.
But everyone soon discovered that although Zhang Haoran couldn't see ghosts, he couldn't be harmed by them either. He could even go up to the bodies that hadn't turned into ghostly figures yet and use a knife.
So everyone pinned their hopes of escaping on Zhang Haoran. Teacher Yu and the vice class leader in the group constantly encouraged him.
Despite feeling a lot of pressure, Zhang Haoran bravely took on the responsibility and led the way for everyone.
Along the way, they also gathered many other lost classmates.
Then Zhang Haoran suggested that they retreat and take shelter in the library. Chu Jiang was there too, and the result was... not good, of course.
Both Teacher Yu and the vice class leader died in that place.
