"Don't scream, it's not a ghost! …… The person who came was ...... My friend! "I was bitter and glad at the same time, and I stretched out my left hand with a strange expression, and the lantern landed on my hand with unmistakable accuracy. There are countless clusters of light rolling in the lanterns of white yarn, and it is Chen Qiu who comes!

"Not a ghost? That...... How could the lantern be ...... Float up on your own? Qi looked at the lantern in my hand in shock.

Chang Qing stood beside him and looked at me, under the reflection of the light, the expression on his face was also full of doubts, I was silent, I really didn't know how to explain it to them for a while.

"It's simple! Because...... I'm a wizard! A cold and awe-inspiring voice echoed in the deathly silence of the old building, as if it was announcing that it had the inviolable majesty of an emperor!

A very familiar aura approached me, and I turned my head slightly, and Chen Qiu was already standing silently next to me. Her expression was still so indifferent, her eyes were sharp, and she glanced at Chang Qing and Qi Zhen coldly.

I was puzzled for a while, didn't she already know that she was not a wizard in the Xu family? How can you now resolutely admit it in front of others? Without waiting for me to ask, Chen Qiu held my right hand tightly. Her hands were cold, but her palms were damp, as if she had been clenching her fists for a long time, and she was sweating. I immediately felt nervous about what kind of horrible thing in this old building could make her ...... What about the enemy? Or even pretend to be a wizard? Suspicious, I quietly squeezed Chen Qiu's hand to show that I understood, and then fell silent.

"Wizard? …… Hey! All I know is that there are teachers, doctors, beauticians, oh, and one more - Huang Yaoshi...... But wizards, what does a wizard do? Although Qi Zhen began to play poor again, his voice trembled slightly.

"A sorcerer is a person who is born with great strength, a person who can manipulate the power of nature with witchcraft, surpass the souls of the dead, summon the necromancers, enslave divine beasts, use spells to fight against evil forces, and protect himself and others!" Chen Qiu said coldly, "It's not fun to go against a wizard!" ”

"Really? But aren't wizards often equated with evil? Because wizards are born to be the embodiment of the devil! Unexpectedly, Chang Qing took over the conversation. He looked at Chen Qiu with a little disgust in his eyes, and his words were also aggressive, "So, I think, you trapped us here, right?" ”

"I'm not that bored! …… Little Star, let's go! Chen Qiu didn't seem to bother to bother with more words, and pulled me to turn around and leave, "If you like to stay here and explore slowly, just keep it!" ”

"Oops! …… The three of us came in together, and of course we should go together! …… Ahem, evergreen, right? Qi Zhen coughed twice deliberately, and pulled Chang Qing up hard to follow behind us.

"Why are you pulling me? I don't associate myself with evil devils! Chang Qing stubbornly said loudly, breaking free of Qi Zhen's hand.

"Evil devils? Maybe! If you must stay here, you will probably be able to see it in a while! Chen Qiu stopped, turned his head and sneered at Chang Qing, "If you really want to subdue demons and subdue demons, you can show some skills and guts, and wait here!" ”

"You think I'm afraid of you? Look at me......" Chang Qing was very annoyed, and reached into his clothes to rummage around, as if he was looking for something to come out.

"Changqing, stop messing around! …… She's a good friend of mine, how can she be a 'devil'? …… Let's get out of this building first! She's not going to hurt us anyway! …… Don't you even believe me? "I knew that Chang Qing's temper was very stubborn, so I had to explain Chen Qiu in a sincere tone. Chang Qing stopped, looked at me with a frown for a long time, and then pulled a handful of hair, and finally followed up.

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief, raised the lantern and walked side by side with Chen Qiu in front. That's when I have the leisure to observe the changes around me. The three of us had just touched the end of the corridor on the right side, but there were two more windows on the cement wall that there was no crack in the original, the two that Qi Zhen had found. When I passed through the storage room again, I found that not only was the door not locked but wide open, and there was nothing inside.

"Huh? How come there is nothing in the pantry? I couldn't help but ask.

"Of course not. Don't you already see those two windows? Chen Qiu didn't stop, glanced at the empty storage room, pulled me as he walked, and said, "This is not the second floor, how can there be a storage room stuffed with things?" ”

"Not the second floor? …… Is that the third or fourth floor? ”

"It's the fourth floor! My guess was right, as soon as we walked out of the storage room on the second floor, we were in the hallway on the fourth floor! Chang Qing replied behind me.

"How can you be sure it must be the fourth floor? Why can't it be the third floor? Qi Zhen was a little unconvinced.

"Because I know that only the storage rooms on the second and third floors of this old building are still in use, which are used to store some obsolete tables, chairs and teaching aids. This storage room is empty, of course on the fourth floor! ”

"That's probably the first floor!" Qi Zhen seems to be used to raising the bar with others, and he is ready to entangle on this issue.

"Don't be wordy, be careful of falling! The staircase is here! I reluctantly turned around and reminded them that under the light of the lantern, a spiraling down staircase appeared in front of our eyes, "facts speak louder than words", and finally succeeded in making Qi Zhen shut up.

We walked down the steps of the stairs step by step. Although the light of the lantern illuminates the steps under our feet clearly, every step we take always gives us a strange feeling of being on the edge of an abyss, as if we are not careful to fall into the eighteen layers of hell. Therefore, we trembled and walked very slowly.

The air in the building is humid and cold, especially on the wall overhead, from time to time there will be droplets of water, accidentally dripping on the skin, cold and cold, as if the cold air has penetrated through the skin and penetrated into the heart, and the internal organs are about to be frozen!

"Ahem! This lantern is so chic! …… The light is also special, but ...... It's not like a candle! What's inside? Hey, it's kind of like a firefly! Qi Zhen probably couldn't stand this gloomy atmosphere, so he had nothing to say, and wanted to talk to Chen Qiu.

Chen Qiu ignored him and walked down. Chang Qing was also silent, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Have you ever seen a firefly so bright?" I thought the atmosphere was weird and cold, and I wanted to talk and relieve it.

Qi Zhen replied honestly: "No! …… So what do you mean? ”

"......" I was speechless, this question was actually what I wanted to figure out last time at Xu Lan's house, but a lot of things happened later, so I didn't bother to ask. What's in the lantern? I stared at the lantern in my hand and froze.

"Wizards, of course you have to use some scary stuff! …… Probably the phosphorus fire in the bones of the dead! The mockery in Chang Qing's tone was extremely strong, and he seemed to be very disgusted with Chen Qiu, and he was inexplicably hostile at the beginning.

"How is that possible? Changqing, don't talk nonsense! …… Ah, we've reached the third floor, let's hurry up! It's almost downstairs! "I was afraid that Chen Qiu would be angry and have a conflict with Chang Qing, so I quickly diverted the topic.

"Phosphorus fire? No! In the lantern is ...... Corpse Firefly! Chen Qiutou didn't reply and said coldly.

"Wet fireflies? Wet wet? Strange, are fireflies still dry and wet? Qi Zhen muttered.

"It's the 'corpse' of corpses! They are obtained from the corpses of their predecessors by generations of wizards of our clan, similar to the 'Gu' raised by some ethnic minorities. However, they have received some of the power of the dead wizard, and they have been spelled, neither dead nor destroyed, something between a spirit and an entity! Chen Qiu replied lightly, but his voice was like a golden chime and jade, with the momentum of looking down on everything.

As if to confirm her words, the lantern in my hand suddenly shone brightly, and countless lights converged into a huge and dazzling ball, which was scattered in an instant, and the small dots of light flickered and flickered, as if countless eyes were swimming!

My hand shook, my feet staggered, the lantern almost fell to the ground, if it weren't for Chen Qiu and Chang Qing's quick eyes and hands, and at the same time grabbed my arm, people almost fell downstairs. The two looked at each other coldly, unabashedly revealing their unfriendliness towards each other.

"Oops! Scared the hell out of me! You're almost going to fall on your head...... Are you okay? Qi Zhen's face was pale, he looked panicked and palpitating, and he didn't know if he was frightened by me or by Chen Qiu's words! (In my opinion, the latter is more likely!) ）

“…… It's okay! Let's go! …… It's getting colder and colder, and I'm shivering with cold! I lifted up the lantern that had been restored to its original state, Chen Qiu looked at me deeply, didn't say anything, just re-grasped my hand and continued to walk down. She didn't speak, Chang Qing and Qi Zhen were silent, and everyone invariably quickened their pace.

After the initial fear and shock, the more I thought about it, the more suspicious I felt.

I know Chen Qiu's temper best, she has always ignored people she doesn't know and don't know, (even if she knows and is familiar, she may not be willing to pay attention!) What is the purpose of saying so many words that can be considered "intimidation" today? Do you want to say it to Chang Qing and Qi Zhen? That's too much fuss! And it scared me out enough! Don't...... The two of them also have quirks? Or is there a ...... in this old building? Even if there are ghosts, if they say such terrible things, will they be scared away? …… I thought about it, but I just couldn't get the point.

"It's here, it's here! We're upstairs! Qi Zhen's loud voice woke me up from my hard thoughts. It's finally time to get out of this hellish place!

I sighed with relief, quickened my pace, and almost trotted all the way, pulling Chen Qiu to the door. One of my feet was already on the grass in front of the building, and when I looked up, a blue-gray shadow that was constantly distorting and deformed, strangely flashing with sparkling water, jumped over, and pressed down on me head-on without saying a word!

"Ahh I was defenseless, screamed in horror, jumped straight up, and almost fell on Chen Qiu's body.

"Who's there?" An unfamiliar voice asked sternly.

"We are...... Students in the first year of junior high school! You...... Who are you? Qi Zhen asked in a slightly trembling voice.

"I'm Teacher Wang from the school's Academic Affairs Office! What class are you in the first year of junior high school? If you don't go home so late, what are you doing here? ”

At this time, Chen Qiu took the lantern from my hand, closed his hands, and shook it slightly, and the light cluster disappeared. She reduced the lantern to a white veil and quickly put it away.

I finally settled down and took a closer look, where is there any weird blue-gray "water shadow"? Standing in front of me was a middle-aged man wearing a dark cyan tunic and looking extremely ordinary. He held a large lit candle in each hand, and when the wind blew and the candlelight swayed, the shadow he cast on the wall naturally distorted.

"Teacher Wang, why don't you take a flashlight? …… Actually came out with a candle and almost scared us to death! I smiled wryly and said, because the other party was a teacher, I didn't dare to complain loudly in the last sentence, so I had to mumble in a low voice.

"Oh, a few flashlights at school are broken, and when I heard a strange noise in this old building, I lit two candles in a hurry! …… Oh, you haven't told me yet, why don't you go home? What are you doing in the old building? "Although this teacher Wang has a mediocre face, (cough, it's not very appropriate to describe mediocrity, it should be said that he is the kind of person you talk to him on the street for two hours, and then when you turn around, you can't remember what he looks like!) But at this time, he held a candle in his hand, his expression was calm, his tone was steady, and his courage seemed to be not small.

"We are students in the first (6th) class of junior high school. We went to the old building to look for ...... Find a soccer ball that was accidentally kicked in! Chang Qing's answer was really reluctant.

That teacher Wang actually seemed to believe it: "Looking for football? Did you find it? ”

“…… No! It was too dark for us to find. …… Tomorrow, we'll look for it during the day! Qi Zhen simply used this excuse to the end.

"Tomorrow? I'll forget it! Teacher Wang quickly glanced at the swarthy old building, and a few imperceptible and panicked looks flashed in his eyes. I've been secretly paying attention to the subtle changes in his expression, and I'm sure he already knew that there was something strange about this old building!

“…… This building ...... This building is a dilapidated house, and when it was built, it cut corners, and it was not visible on the surface, but in fact, there were already many big cracks inside. It's easier to collapse after a long time, and it's dangerous! …… Soccer balls, buy another one! "He used a convincing excuse to persuade us in all seriousness, worthy of being a teacher, and he didn't change his face even if he lied!

We nodded in unison: "Oh, that's right! We're not coming tomorrow! ”

"It's getting late, your parents are in a hurry! …… I haven't locked the school gate yet, so go home! "Teacher Wang saw that we were very obedient and didn't say much, so he asked us to go home quickly.

"Got it. …… Mr. Wang, can I borrow a candle from you? Tomorrow also. "I looked up at the dark sky.

"Okay. I'll be back tomorrow at the Academic Affairs Office. Teacher Wang handed me the candle in his left hand and waved his hand to signal us to go quickly.

By candlelight, the four of us walked briskly up the cement walkway towards the school gate.

After walking more than a dozen steps, we all looked back at the old building, which stood majestically, still shrouded in a chaotic darkness, like a giant beast that chooses people to devour; A little candlelight in front of the building, swaying tenaciously from side to side in the bleak night breeze, revealing an inexplicable poignancy between light and extinction, seems to show us: the world is like a treacherous cloud, and everything has just begun!

After leaving the school gate and walking through a gravel path, the street lights finally appeared. I blew out the candle, and Qi Zhen said happily, "Haha! We're finally seeing the light again! ”

"What 'see again'? Are you blind? I pursed my lips disdainfully at him.

Chang Qing suddenly said, "Ah, I remember! It's strange, it's that Mr. Wang! ”

"How?"

"He was the one who told me not to go to the old building to clean up!"

"He looks like this...... Ordinary, can you remember it too? Besides, there's nothing surprising about that. Didn't he already say that the old building is a dilapidated building and is going to collapse, of course there is no need to clean it! Qi Zhen said lazily.

Chang Qing tugged at his hair and was silent, not knowing what he was thinking. I glanced at Chen Qiu, who had been silent, with an indifferent expression on her face.

"Alright. She and I are going down this road, what about you? Where to go? "We were standing at a fork in the road, and I pointed to a path on the left and asked Chang Qing and Qi Zhen.

"I'll go the road on the right, turn two corners, and walk another five or six minutes and you'll be home!" Qi Zhen said enthusiastically, "Anyway, it's too late, why don't you just come to my house as a guest!" ”

"Forget it! If I don't come home, my parents will come to me with a loudspeaker! I quickly shook my head.

"I walked along the middle road. …… Let's all go home! Chang Qing looked at me worriedly, "What's the matter, I'll talk about it tomorrow!" ”

"Got it!"

"Also, on the way...... Be careful! ”

"Chang Qing is right! You've got to be careful on your way, that ......."

"It's wordy! I know, let's go, let's go! I pretended to be impatient and drove away the two people who were still squinting at Chen Qiu and signaling to me.

Chen Qiu and I walked side by side on the path, no one knew how to speak, and I didn't know what to say, so we kept walking silently. People are really strange, sometimes they hope that the road is as short as possible, and it is better to reach the destination in the blink of an eye; Sometimes you wish the road was as long as possible, and it was better to never reach your destination. But hope is one thing, reality is another!

"Today...... Thank you! "The path is coming to an end, and I can already see my old house, and I have to speak.

"No thanks! …… You...... What are you doing in that old building? ”

I was silent for a while, then turned my head to look at the eaves by the side of the road and said, "I heard that someone saw the event in the building...... Skeleton! ”

"Really? …… That old building is really dangerous, don't go again! Chen Qiu avoided my topic, and his tone was bitter.

I felt a sour feeling in my heart, but I smiled: "Even if there are really ghosts in that building, you don't have to be so afraid, right?" ”

“…… I was scared indeed! Do you know? Just now, if they hadn't been frightened by those corpse fireflies, we wouldn't have escaped so easily! ”

"They? Who are they? ”

"I don't know what they are!" Chen Qiu frowned, the expression on his face was confused, "...... I sensed that there was an unusually strange aura entrenched in that old building, and the resentful spirits in it, which you usually call terrible ghosts, were very powerful, and they were still ...... It's elusive! What's even more terrifying is that there seem to be other ...... in or around the old building Stuff! ”

"Something else? What is it? Well, is it like the 'Xiao Zhen' we met at Xu Lan's house? ”

"Probably!"

"Isn't that a youkai?!" I cried out in a lost voice, "Aren't you in Xu Lan's house able to see through their disguises?" …… That one...... Didn't Firefly beat the damn cat to the ground and run away? ”

Chen Qiu's brows were so furrowed that she was about to wring out the water, she thought for a while, looked at me with a solemn expression and said, "The reason why I can see through that 'Xiao Zhen' in Xu Lan's house is because ...... It's too light, and it's a hasty change into someone we know well, so ......"

"Wait! Why didn't it borrow Jane's...... Body? Why change? ”

"It's supposed to be a 'charm'. The so-called 'charm' is the spirit of all things. Its original form was the white cat! Although it is difficult for people to see through the borrowed body, its own strength will be limited; Although the change is relatively easy to see, the power will be very powerful! …… That's why I told you to use the corpse firefly against it, and if it was borrowing Jane's body, you wouldn't be able to do that. In that case, the real little Jane will die! ”

"I see!" I nodded, somewhat understood.

"You said you don't know what 'they' are, are you suspicious of Qi Zhen and Changqing?"

“…… I don't know! Maybe! I could only sense that there were 'ghosts' in or around the old building, but I didn't know the exact location or the form in which they existed! ”

“……”

"In other words, they may be Qi Zhen or evergreen, or they may be a bird, a worm, a tree, or even a stone or a door...... "Chen Qiu said with a wry smile.

I'm dumbfounded, isn't this a monster version of "changing face"?

"But, whatever they are, since they're so powerful, there should be plenty of opportunities to ...... me before you show up."

"Killing has a purpose. When the time comes, they may still have some scruples! ”

Objective? What purpose? Could it be that they also have a picture?

I looked at Chen Qiu with an inquiring gaze, Chen Qiu's gaze stopped at my chest, helplessness and pain flashed in his eyes, and he nodded silently.

My heart shook suddenly, and inside my clothes, a net made of red thread hung on my chest, and in it was the one - the spirit stone!