Eleven bowls, twenty-three chopsticks.
No one saw where the extra bowl and chopstick ca from. This bizarre scene sent chills down everyone’s spines.
"Pick up the bowls and chopsticks." Yang Xiao commanded.
Everyone complied, and after they all picked up the bowls and chopsticks, the table was left empty, not a single bowl or chopstick remained, just two buckets.
Everyone stood in the sa posture, holding a bowl in their left hand and a pair of chopsticks in their right as Yang Xiao checked each one. No problems, all fine.
"Count off, starting with you." Yang Xiao pointed at Datou’s chest.
"1"
"2"
"3"
...
"9"
"10"
The last response was from Yang Xiao, who now felt sowhat dazed. Undoubtedly, it was the ghost’s power affecting them.
The knowledge that a ghost was nearby yet unseen and untouchable instilled a deep-seated fear within everyone present because no one knew when the ghost might strike or whom it might kill.
"I have an idea." Sopa stood up and said seriously, "Let’s place the bowls and chopsticks on the table one by one, separated by a certain distance, and carve our nas underneath."
This was indeed a good thod, essentially marking the naless bowls and chopsticks.
Based on previous experience, the ghost, to blend in with them, would follow collective orders and act alongside them.
This way, the ghost might inadvertently reveal itself.
"Don’t carve your own na; switch with soone else. I’ll put down my bowl and chopsticks, and the next person will help carve my na." Yang Xiao added, aiming to minimize the ghost’s influence on any single individual.
A new round of actions began, with everyone carrying out their tasks ticulously: first carving the previous person’s na, then placing down the bowl and chopsticks, retreating only after everyone confird, followed by the next person carving their na.
Soon, this round concluded, and the bowls and chopsticks on the table were neatly lined up, with nas carved beneath on the table.
The next mont—
"Ah!" Davi exclaid, covering her mouth, staring in terror at the spot in front of her.
There was a set of bowls and chopsticks, but with only one lonely chopstick across the bowl.
The bowls and chopsticks on the table were divided into eleven sets, and this was one of them.
What was even more unsettling was that no one noticed where this set of bowls and chopsticks ca from, clearly... clearly it wasn’t there a second ago, as if it had suddenly appeared in the blink of an eye.
From its positioning, the set had fallen precisely between two normal sets of bowls and chopsticks, as if the person coming after had seen it and placed their own set behind it in sequence.
"Find the na!"
Yang Xiao suddenly reminded them, and everyone rushed forward, indeed finding a carving under the inexplicable set of bowl and chopsticks. But a strange scene appeared: while they could clearly see the etching, they bizarrely couldn’t discern what was actually carved.
Yang Xiao reached out, touching the carving bit by bit, closing his eyes, trying to reconstruct the text in his mind. This wasn’t hard for him, as he often played similar gas with a female classmate in school.
He would close his eyes, and his classmate would write words on his hand or back, and he would guess, almost always getting it right, after which the losing classmate would treat him to a popsicle.
In terms of the ga, he was an expert, but this ti it didn’t work. He tried to rearrange the carvings on the table, but only ended up with chaotic lines in his mind, without pattern or aning.
The na carved by the ghost, along with others’ nas, was blurred and indistinguishable, as if obscured by so mysterious force.
Undoubtedly, it was the ghost’s power affecting them.
The ghost was among them, even witnessing everything alongside them.
Fear spread, and soone started gasping for air. This extre despair weighed on everyone’s hearts, suffocating them.
Nobody knew when the ghost had started lurking around them, nor how long it had been there. Perhaps it joined them every night, lying in bed alongside them, watching them the entire ti.
"I... I need to get out, get so air. I’m suffocating!" Hafeez tore at his clothes, his face flushed, mouth agape, breathing heavily, as if repressing it for a long ti.
"I... I need air too!" Shari added as soon as soone spoke up, striding towards the door but was swiftly grabbed and pushed back by Adila.
"No one leaves until there’s a result!" Adila growled, blocking the door with her body.
Shari, unable to withstand Adila’s strength, was pushed straight to the floor. At this mont, the fear she had been harboring finally erupted. She cried and scread hoarsely, saying she wanted to die and asking the others to kill her outright.
She was terrified, fearing that rather than facing a Fierce Ghost that could appear and kill at any mont, she’d prefer for her teammates to kill her, sparing her from the agony.
The Fierce Ghost was among them, and they were nothing but lambs to the slaughter, with no chance to resist. This fear of dying at an unknown ti had been eating at her, cutting away her spirit piece by piece with a dull knife until it crumbled. She was on the verge of breaking down.
Aisha crouched down to hug her, and Shari finally let her emotions spill over, crying out loud in Aisha’s embrace. The only sound left in the silent chapel was Shari’s heart-wrenching cries.
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