Chapter 27: 027. False Alarm
After being scared for a while, the tension among the three of them eased quite a bit. Zhang Shaoqing was grinning, sharing wild stories about lovebirds he had heard of. Wen Yang wore a calm smile, while Ning Chu’s face was full of despair.
It wasn’t the cowardice of these two that disappointed him; he was genuinely astonished that this place truly deserved to be called a Small Royal Text world.
It hadn’t been long, and already he had come across two wild couples…
In his past life, he had only heard of a few people stumbling upon such things occasionally, but now he had encountered two in a single day.
Could it be that people here couldn’t afford hotels?
Although it was a bit creepy, they were just innocent thrill-seekers, not doing anything particularly immoral, and at least they knew to find a hidden corner. If they got caught by the police, they’d probably just get detained for a bit.
Ning Chu couldn’t help but sigh.
He had initially thought the people here were normal…
“I once had a high school classmate who ran into something like that in a changing room during the day. Tsk tsk, they really know how to play.” As Zhang Shaoqing turned his head, he just happened to catch Ning Chu sighing. “What’s the matter? Has your pure heart been tainted?”
“Not really…”
If Ning Chu could be considered pure, he wouldn’t be writing Small Royal Text, let alone end up in such a strange world.
“Then why the long face? I’ve never seen anyone so shy.” Zhang Shaoqing rolled his eyes, justifying, “Who gets so frightened watching a movie~”
As if he was stretching out the syllables, emphasizing “frightened” dramatically.
It’s not even a serious movie!
If he were watching with close friends, it would be one thing, but Ning Chu had known these two for only a few weeks, at best just casual friends.
“Enough of the nonsense, let’s do something serious.” Wen Yang interrupted their bickering, holding up his phone to shine some light.
“What ghost? Maybe it’s just that couple’s actions that scared you?” Zhang Shaoqing grumbled. “Just like we did earlier…”
“Let’s just check out the teaching building. If we don’t find anything, we head back.”
Zhang Shaoqing waved his wrench around, yelling, “If we do see a ghost, I’ll smash its head with this wrench!”
“Funny how someone already ran away earlier.” Ning Chu ruthlessly pointed out, puffing out his chest in self-praise. “Look at you two, you all look like a bunch of wimps!”
Although, at that moment, he had been so flustered his legs had turned to jelly and he hadn’t reacted at all.
“Heh.” Zhang Shaoqing, out of excuses, finally conceded, crossing his arms and falling silent.
The initially suspenseful atmosphere had shifted to a lightly flirtatious one. Zhang Shaoqing’s mouth was full of jokes he didn’t know where he heard them from, while the innocent Wen Yang just listened quietly. Ning Chu unconsciously began jotting down those joke lines in his mind, getting ready to include them in his writing…
Wait! I’m in a book right now!
That Small Royal Text had taken him years to write, and often he would feel inspired after reading excellent works, so he’d write his own version for fun.
That’s how this world had transformed into a modern city where humans and various other beings coexisted.
The trio strolled up the stairs to the second floor, and faintly, they heard sweet panting from somewhere.
Ning Chu maintained a straight face, almost wanting to laugh.
Sure enough, there are no normal people in this world!
“If there really are ghosts here, it would be a succubus ghost.” Zhang Shaoqing quipped, “Expecting us to join for some thrills, but instead, we’re just the third wheels, right?”
Maybe hearing this, the noises from the second floor suddenly ceased.
Wen Yang sighed helplessly. “I told you there are no ghosts; you scared that couple away.”
“Would have been better to stay in the dorm playing games.”
Ning Chu listened to their exchange. Although he relaxed a bit, his eyes still scanned the surroundings, using his phone to illuminate every corner.
He wondered if that ghost would be as beautiful as he described in his writing.
Maybe it’s not even the same ghost?
What if it’s a guy?!
He found himself thinking about all sorts of random things when suddenly, he caught sight of a pale figure flash at the end of the hallway.
Chills ran down his spine, and without thinking, he grabbed Wen Yang’s hand, pointing towards the end. “There’s something over there!”
“Don’t scare me.” Wen Yang calmly followed the direction of his finger. “Let’s go check it out.”
“What’s with you acting all wimpy now?” Zhang Shaoqing teased Ning Chu, taking the lead.
As they reached the end of the hallway, Ning Chu anxiously looked around, discovering they were in front of the bathroom.
“Splash!”
All three jumped with a start, simultaneously looking down to find Wen Yang standing in a puddle of water.
Finding a puddle in front of the bathroom was actually quite normal.
“Shit! You scared me!” Zhang Shaoqing swore as he moved toward the bathroom. “I’m just going to the restroom… Forget it, I’ll go back later.”
“Let’s head to the third floor next.”
Ning Chu doubted that the figure he had just seen was a ghost, but because of that he became more fearful, trailing behind Wen Yang, starting to regret ever getting involved.
But if he didn’t go, and Wen Yang got devoured by a ghost, wouldn’t all his earlier efforts be in vain?
By coming, at least he could see how Wen Yang got eaten, justifying his efforts.
The teaching building had four floors in total, and the three of them explored the fourth floor, then peeped around the rooftop, and finally decided to leave feeling a bit disappointed.
Wen Yang seemed to have pieced things together, guessing a cowardly student must have been scared by a couple late at night and reported it, leading to the ghost rumors.
If real ghosts existed, how come those couples didn’t seem scared at all?
“Let’s head back; this was a buzzkill!” Once back on the well-lit path, Zhang Shaoqing instantly regained his courage, boasting, “That ghost must be lucky not to have run into us today!”
“Ah right, right, right~”
Ning Chu half-heartedly agreed.
“What’s the plan now?” he turned to ask Wen Yang.
“Report it to the school, just say what happened.” Wen Yang shrugged, clearly exasperated. “Have the security patrol more at night, and maybe it won’t be haunted anymore.”
“Too bad there are no real ghosts, or I could make some cash off my uncle.”
Ning Chu felt relieved by this plan; he was most afraid Wen Yang would stubbornly refuse to leave until he found a ghost.
That was a close call; he half-expected to trigger an exorcism plot…
The figure he just saw still made him uneasy, glancing back at the teaching building every now and then, feeling a sense of unrest in his heart.
Maybe it was just too many people, and that ghost couldn’t show up with the three of them around. What about next time?
From now on, Wen Yang mustn’t ever come to the teaching building alone!
Ning Chu reassured Wen Yang, who was sulking over losing money, “Don’t worry, if there is one, the three of us might not be going back tonight.”
“That’s true.”
He couldn’t help but admit that the current innocent Wen Yang was quite naïve.
If it were him, even if there were no ghosts, he would still fake a ghost hunting ceremony to rake in some school currency!
“Let’s go get some late-night snacks on the second floor of the cafeteria.” Zhang Shaoqing spotted the brightly lit cafeteria in the distance, calling to the two, “My treat, how about chicken cutlet and milk tea?”
Ning Chu suddenly found this villain much more likable: “I want to eat a scallion pancake!”
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