As the lights in the corridor went out, Liu Zi, Sun Yujia, and Miao Xiaoshan, who had just walked out of their dorm room, were startled in place. Then an inexplicable fear surged from the depths of their hearts.
The three of them instantly quieted down.
Sun Yujia, being a bit more timid, directly covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming due to excessive fear.
They had previously discussed some emergency measures for dealing with supernatural events.
If ordinary people encounter a supernatural situation, itâs best to remain quiet and quickly make one of two choices: either risk leaving the area as soon as possible or choose to stay in one place without moving around.
The silence had hardly lasted.
Miao Xiaoshan heard other girlsâ terrified screams coming from downstairs.
âNo, could it really be that unlucky? Did those guys actually summon something unclean?â Liu Zi said softly and nervously in the corridor.
She and Sun Yujia hugged tightly against Miao Xiaoshan, seeking some sense of security.
âLetâs go back first.â
Miao Xiaoshan wasnât overly panicked. Instead, she appeared somewhat calm. After calming down and thinking for a moment, she chose not to continue forward and decided not to hurriedly escape from this place but to return to the dorm.
The dorm was also dark, without any lights.
âTurn on the flashlight from your phones and shine it beside me. I need to get something, and then weâll leave here.â Miao Xiaoshan said.
âOkay.â
Soon, two beams of light appeared, restoring some illumination in the dorm.
Miao Xiaoshan quickly ran into her room and began rummaging through a suitcase.
âWhat are you looking for? Whatâs so important? I hear chaos downstairs, and it seems theyâre leaving here too. We should hurry and leave too.â Liu Zi said while holding her phone as a flashlight.
âFound it.â
Suddenly, Miao Xiaoshan seemed a bit delighted. She dug out an item from the suitcase â a delicate box.
Upon opening it, a candle as vibrant as blood appeared before her.
This candle had not been lit before and was still intact.
âA red candle? We have flashlights; you donât need a candle, right?â Sun Yujia said quietly.
Miao Xiaoshan said nothing. The candle she held was not an ordinary candle but the Ghost Candle that Yang Jian had given her. According to Yang Jian, as long as the Ghost Candle was lit and remained unextinguished, ghosts could not approach within the area illuminated by its flame. It could save lives, but it was extremely valuable.
In the Supernatural Circle, itâs considered priceless. Even just one candle, if sold, wouldnât be a matter of tens of thousand, or hundreds of thousands, but rather in the billions.
Many wealthy individuals couldnât buy the Ghost Candle because they lack the right status.
Miao Xiaoshan was very careful and had prepared well. Besides the Ghost Candle, the box also contained a small lighter and a box of matches.
After hesitating for a moment, Miao Xiaoshan gritted her teeth slightly, somewhat reluctantly, and used the lighter to ignite the Ghost Candle.
She couldnât be sure of the situation outside â whether there really was a supernatural invasion in this building â but she didnât dare to gamble because they were all ordinary people. If they encountered a ghost, they might not even have the chance to light the Ghost Candle and could be killed immediately.
So the best course was to light the Ghost Candle first, then carry it to leave.
A flicker of flame rose.
The candle, vibrant red, was lit.
However, the flame on the candle was particularly eerie, surprisingly burning an ominous green.
âHmm?â
Beside her, Liu Zi and Sun Yujia looked at the Ghost Candle in Miao Xiaoshanâs hand, their eyes wide with both shock and fear.
âThis is something Yang Jian gave me. It can help us safely leave here. Thereâs not much time to explain now; we need to hurry and leave. With the power out, we canât use the elevator; we have to take the stairs to clear out of here.â Miao Xiaoshan quickly said and then started moving.
Liu Zi and Sun Yujia dared not ask too many questions and simply followed obediently behind.
Miao Xiaoshan, who usually appeared gentle and weak, displayed calmness and decisiveness in the face of a supernatural event, and showed great independency, without any hint of panic.
The eerie green candlelight burned, dispelling the surrounding darkness.
But as Miao Xiaoshan walked out, looking at the burning flame, she slightly furrowed her pretty brow because she noticed that this Ghost Candle was burning very slowly, almost without consumption.
Yang Jian had once said that the faster the Ghost Candle burns, the closer the ghosts are. If there are no ghosts nearby, conversely, the candle burns slowly.
âAre there no ghosts around here?â
Miao Xiaoshan pondered this, but she didnât waste time and hurriedly left the place.
The three of them quickly went downstairs.
As they passed other dormitories, some other female students also opened their doors to inquire about the situation outside. However, upon seeing Miao Xiaoshan holding a bizarre red candle emitting green light, they screamed in fright, quickly retreating to their dorms with a slam, and shutting the door.
âThey are scared; should we explain?â Sun Yujia asked.
Miao Xiaoshan said, âWe canât waste time; we must leave here first, then notify the person in charge of this place. If thereâs really a situation occurring, staying here is extremely, extremely dangerous. I cannot risk your lives by helping them, and if the time drags, perhaps none of us will be able to leave.â
She considered knocking on each dorm room to get the other girls to leave with her.
But glancing at the burning Ghost Candle in her hand, Miao Xiaoshan thought that dragging this on would be too dangerous, so there wasnât time to persuade everyone.
Nonetheless, she would call out to other people she encountered along the way, urging them to leave together, which felt safer.
However, as they descended the stairs, they found a couple pressing close together in the stairwell, nestled in the corner, surprisingly indulging in intimacy.
âHey, what are you doing?â Liu Zi shouted, startling the couple so much that they nearly jumped up.
Under the eerie candlelight, when they saw Miao Xiaoshan and the others, they thought they had encountered ghosts and almost jumped.
âWeâre not ghosts, the power went out, and we lit candles to leave. It might be haunted here, so donât stay. Come with us quickly,â Miao Xiaoshan reminded.
âHaunted? You guys are more like ghosts,â the boy said.
Liu Zi said, âThe power suddenly went out, isnât that haunting? Do you want to leave or not? If you donât, you might die here. Weâre not responsible.â
âPower outage? Thereâs no outage. Who said it? Someone deliberately turned off the power to scare people,â the boy hurriedly said.
âWhat did you say, someone turned off the power? Why would they do that?â Liu Zi was instantly angered.
The boy said, âThey were playing some sort of ghost summoning game, deliberately turning off the lights to take the opportunity to confess to girls they like⊠Actually, the ghost summoning game is just an excuse. Thereâs no such game. Weâre not stupid. After what happened at school last time, whoâs foolish enough to really play such a game?â
âThe people in the dormitory downstairs arranged everything to make it look real.â
The boy was really frightened by the mysterious candle held by Miao Xiaoshan, and he revealed everything he knew.
âTerrible, you guys are scaring people,â
Liu Zi grabbed the boyâs collar angrily: âI really want to beat you up. Can you joke like this? I almost had Miao Xiaoshan call Yang Jian, and you know what happens if Yang Jian shows up?â
âWhat would happen?â the boy cautiously glanced at Miao Xiaoshan.
They knew that among the students in this study group, the one they couldnât offend was Miao Xiaoshan, a name recognized by the head of the study group and those second-generation kids.
âIf Yang Jian came, he could kill you all.â Liu Zi was furious.
âN-no, weâre just playing a game, like an escape room. Itâs not that serious,â the boy looked panicked.
Miao Xiaoshan was speechless, not expecting this situation. However, she was still amiable and said, âLuckily itâs a misunderstanding, as long as everyone is okay. Liu Zi, donât be mad. We didnât know it would turn out like this. We saw the power go out and heard the boys downstairs playing ghost summoning games, so we mistakenly thought ghosts were summoned.â
âNow the misunderstanding is resolved. Luckily, I didnât call Yang Jian, otherwise, it would have been really troublesome.â
She felt somewhat relieved.
Since Miao was easygoing, things would be hard to manage if Yang Jian came, as she couldnât stop whatever Yang Jian planned.
âSo what do we do now? Leave or go back to the dorm?â Sun Yujia asked.
âGo to the dorm. Itâs past ten at night, we donât know where to go wearing pajamas and slippers,â Miao Xiaoshan said.
Her courage isnât small. Now knowing itâs a misunderstanding, she wouldnât hastily leave and would naturally return to the dorm to sleep.
Unfortunately, to be cautious, she had lit the Ghost Candle.
Though it wasnât burning much, she still felt some heartache.
âLetâs go back and deal with those people tomorrow. They use such brainless methods just to chase girls,â Liu Zi said, gnashing her teeth.
These guys, infatuated like bugs, can really do anything.
Miao Xiaoshan didnât speak, just raised the Ghost Candle, intending to blow it out, then froze. At this moment, the candlelight inexplicably expanded.
Though not overly obvious, it was still different than before.
This change made Miao Xiaoshan stop and not blow out the Ghost Candle.
âThe flame is changing, whatâs going on?â Sun Yujia watched the candle closely, curious and uncertain.
The flame alternated between expanding and contracting.
It was as if breathing.
The situation was unusual, never seen before, and the rhythms varied, sometimes quick, sometimes slow.
âIs there something wrong with the candle?â Liu Zi asked, âWhy does it flicker?â
âImpossible, it was fine before, always normal,â Miao Xiaoshan shook her head.
She hadnât experienced this much and couldnât understand the situation before her.
âWe canât go back to the dorm; we have to leave,â Miao Xiaoshan decided it was safer this way after some thought.
She dared not blow out the Ghost Candle, as its condition left her uncertain.
Is there really a ghost here?
The eerie candle flame still danced, sometimes swelling, sometimes shrinking.
âLetâs turn on the lights and figure this out,â Miao Xiaoshan decided to clear things up to avoid another misunderstanding.
Holding the Ghost Candle ensured safety regardless.
But this way, a bit of candle wax would be wasted.
Given the circumstances, Miao Xiaoshan couldnât do otherwise.
âDid you hear? Donât stand around. Go turn on the lights, and letâs find those guys,â Liu Zi pushed the boy, still annoyed.
âCould it really be haunted?â the boy nervously said, âIf something happens, we must leave quickly, canât stay.â
Heâs no fool, sensing something unusual here.
âNow youâre scared? What were you doing earlier?â Liu Zi said, âStop finding excuses. Go turn on the lights.â
âLetâs go together, safer that way,â Miao Xiaoshan suggested.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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