CH 12

The whole class burst into an uproar.

“Who? Who?”

“An investigator? Oh my god, we have an investigator in our class!”

“What a breakthrough! Is it you, class president?”

Su Rong was horrified, thinking her identity had been exposed. But judging from the class president’s performance, the investigator he was talking about should be someone else.

She didn’t expect that there were people capable enough in her class that could pass through a ghost talk. A trace of curiosity also arose in Su Rong’s heart.

The class president smiled and waved his hands. “Of course not. I’m not that good. The real investigator of our class is——“

He stretched out his sentence, and someone immediately urged him impatiently. “Class president, stop holding out on us and tell us quickly!”

“——It’s Xie Hoho!” The class president announced loudly.

In an instant, Xie Hoho became the focus of the class. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes, and those with quick reactions began to flatter.

“Brother Xie, I could tell you were very gifted when we were in school. Sure enough, you weren’t just a small fish in a pond, but a dragon!” Zhao Li, who was sitting opposite him, raised his glass. “I pay my respects. A toast!”

They were just high school students, but they had already learned a lot about the habits of society.

Xie Hoho felt proud being boasted about. With a smile on the corners of his lips, he glanced at Su Rong as if nonchalant and said, “It was just luck. It’s a pity I couldn’t save the others in the ghost talk. Out of ten people, only three survived.”

There were no levels of difficulty determined for ghost talks, but over the years everyone has concluded a rule: the more people participating in a ghost talk, the more difficult the ghost talk would be.

Like the [Fixed Rules Ghost Talks], every time they opened, they would need at least 50 participants.

It was extremely difficult to survive in a ghost talk of ten people. The room became more lively, and everyone complimented and praised Xie Hoho. The braver ones even asked for details about the ghost talk.

“I was involved in a children’s room ghost talk. It was my bad luck. I had just gone to my cousin’s house to babysit when I was selected for no reason.” Speaking of the ghost talk itself, Xie Hoho’s face immediately turned sour. He casually said a few words to skip the topic and started bragging about his extraordinary performance.

To be honest, Su Rong was surprised that Xie Hoho could pass a ten-person level ghost talk. In her impression, Xie Hoho really did not look like someone who could survive in a ghost talk.

But it could be that the preconceptions she extracted from the original owner’s memories ran too deep, and in reality, Xie Hoho wasn’t that stupid.

“By the way, Brother Xie,” Li Qianyue questioned curiously. “I heard that after coming out of a ghost talk, your physique would improve to a certain extent. Is that true?”

This question was right in line with what he liked. Xie Hoho nodded triumphantly, picked up a silver fork in one hand, and squeezed hard. The fork was instantly bent in half under the pressure.

“Wow!” The students were instantly astonished.

Su Rong was also shocked. She was originally preoccupied with reading and didn’t pay much attention to these things, so she wasn’t aware of this at all.

And she herself was not familiar with this body. She was pulled into the world of ghost talks within two days after her time travel. She didn’t pay attention to whether her body had changed after coming out.

She quietly took a spoon underneath the table and exerted force with one hand. She really felt the spoon gradually bend under her strength. This was definitely not something the original Su Rong could do.

It turned out her physique was also transformed by the world of ghost talks!

A look of surprise flashed in her eyes. Su Rong calmly bent the spoon back and returned it to the plate.

Xie Hoho noticed Su Rong’s movements, thinking she had not said anything, and finally couldn’t help but speak. “Su Rong. It’s been a while.”

Before she could reply, a girl who had just gone to the bathroom opened the door in a panic. “There’s a fire downstairs!”

“Are you joking?” Xie Hoho was taken aback for a moment, then snorted. “If there’s a fire, then how come there’s no commotion outside?”

He was right. Looking outside the window, people were coming and going on the street. Nothing unusual. If the restaurant was on fire, a crowd would have already formed due to their habit of watching the excitement.

The others thought it was just a joke by the girl.

However, the girl was so anxious, she was about to cry. “No, I don’t know why, but you’ll see if you come out.”

Su Rong could see she was genuinely afraid. She frowned and got up, walking out of the booth.

Sure enough. Although she couldn’t feel it in the room because of the air conditioning, as soon as she stepped into the corridor, she felt the hot air evaporating the moisture from her skin at an accelerated rate.

The original noise and yelling that was well shielded by the door of the private booth became constant after they came out. Everyone was shouting fire. A group of people blocked the stairs, no one daring to go down.

Su Rong went over to take a look and was immediately dissuaded by the looming flames below. With this intensity, if nothing else, the first floor was toast. Going down now was a dead end!

“May I ask why the downstairs is on fire? Have you called the police?” Su Rong grabbed a waiter and asked rapidly.

The waiter was also very anxious with a crying face and obvious fear in his eyes. “We don’t know why the downstairs is suddenly on fire. The cell signal has been cut and no one can get in touch. The most frightening thing is the people outside can’t seem to hear our cries. Now we can only hope to put out the fire on the first floor and escape.”

There were quite a few people who came out of the room with her. When they heard what the waiter said, someone ran to the window and yelled with all their might. “There’s a fire here! Can anyone hear me?”

However, just as the waiter said, no one outside heard him. The entire second floor of the restaurant seemed to be isolated from the world.

Soon, the whole class was aware the restaurant was on fire.

The class president’s forehead was covered in cold sweat, struggling to operate his cell phone. A few moments later, he slumped into his chair sullenly. “There’s no signal. Nothing can be sent out.”

“That’s weird.” Xie Hoho’s expression was ugly. “It must be an abnormality!”

Su Rong also had the same judgment. To isolate the restaurant and trap them in this fire, it was likely only possible by an abnormality. Was this another ghost talk?

“Hey hey, can you hear me? My dear sacrifices!”

Suddenly, a voice resembling a vicious villain in an anime came over on the intercom.

The originally noisy sound on the second floor seemed to have been put on hold with a pause button, quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

“There’s no need to struggle. This place has been enveloped with “His” power. The changes inside can’t be felt outside, and those inside have no chance of getting out.” The man announced happily.

As soon as this remark came out, the faces of the people in the booth turned pale. 

“You should be honored to contribute your share of power to “Him.” And “He” will take you to the only wonderful paradise in this world.”

“Who wants to go to that shitty paradise!” A strong man outside the door suddenly cursed. “You cultists deserve to die!”

Yes, it was clear this was the work of the cult. In today’s society, these so-called cultists surrendered to “Him” and were contaminated by “Him.” In fact, they could no longer be called humans. The term “abnormal” was more correct.

One part of these abnormals were people who were polluted by “Him” in the ghost talks. People like Huang Tao, who Su Rong had met. They became completely alien and no longer possessed any humanity.

The other part were, for various reasons in the real world, people who have voluntarily submitted to “Him,” also known as “disciples.”

These people had been “blessed” by “Him,” and at the same time, they had to offer sacrifices to “Him.”

She didn’t expect this day to be so unlucky, being caught up in cult activity.

The abnormal in the broadcasting room heard what the man said and laughed. “Don’t say I won’t give you a chance. There are currently 43 people on this floor, but “He” only needs 30 people as sacrifices. If you can offer enough sacrifices before the hour, then the fire downstairs will naturally disappear. But if 30 people aren’t dead in half an hour, then you will all die by fire and become “His” sustenance.”

After his words, he laughed morbidly. “Give “Him” your best performances, dear sacrifices!”

“……”

There was dead silence. The people in the booth had different expressions, various thoughts floating in their minds. 

The lifestyle committee member in high school abruptly stood up and said, “We can’t fall for his tricks! The cult just wants us to kill each other!”

“Then how do you think we should escape? It’s better for 30 to die than all of us, don’t you think?” Another boy retorted with guilt and fear on his face.

The health committee member looked out the window. “This place is only the second floor. If we jump down, we might only break a leg at most.”

At the words, everyone’s eyes lit up. But Su Rong knew in her heart it would never be that simple.

“Yes, you are so right Lao Li!” The class president patted the health committee member on the shoulder. “You jump first. Then you can call the police directly.”

“I……”

In fact, the health committee member didn’t want to jump down first. After all, though it looked safe now, under the effect of strangeness, who knew what would happen if he jumped down. But the words had already been said. If he didn’t jump, wouldn’t he be slapping himself in the face?

Thinking about this, he gritted his teeth. Under the expectant eyes of everyone else, he climbed to the window, stepped out, and jumped down ruthlessly.

The moment he completely left the restaurant, a greenish-black flame like a will-o-wisp suddenly appeared, wrapping around his clothes and spreading at an extremely fast speed.

“Ahhhhh! It hurts! Help!”

The health committee member stopped in mid-air, bathed in fire, screaming shrilly and desperately reaching back.

However, how could the ghost fire give him such an opportunity? In less than five seconds, the health committee member was burned to death, leaving scattered black ashes floating in the wind.

He died.