102 The Black Coffin

The coffin flew toward the weakest among us like a living creature. Chen Hao dared not relax for a moment; he swung the large wooden stick in his hands and struck at the coffin lid directly.

Unfortunately, his blow missed. Countless blood-red threads flowed out from the coffin, wrapping around the little boy behind Chen Hao.

“Be careful!” I grabbed Feng Qian and immediately moved away from the coffin. Lin Xiayue also dodged instinctively.

However, the blood-colored threads seemed to have only one target. Although Chen Hao’s stick blocked some of them, the frightened boy was already too stunned to dodge.

Several piercing sounds echoed as the blood threads pierced through the boy’s body without any resistance. In an instant, blood was drawn out of his body, flowing straight back into the coffin. The originally black coffin now bore streaks of blood-red.

Chen Hao glared at the coffin furiously and shouted, striking at the coffin lid again.

I didn’t stop him. Suddenly, the black coffin nimbly dodged Chen Hao’s attack and lunged toward me.

I barely shielded Feng Qian behind me.

The coffin floated before me, as if scrutinizing both me and Feng Qian.

Lin Xiayue and Chen Hao remained motionless; neither could do anything against this bizarre coffin.

Feng Qian trembled behind me, not daring to utter a sound.

At that moment, the tightly shut coffin lid suddenly opened.

A foul stench burst forth, and I hurriedly held my breath, fearing inhaling some toxic gas.

Along with the stench, a pale yellow smoke seeped from the coffin, gradually enveloping the entire courtyard in a yellow haze.

I seemed to glimpse an ancient corpse inside the coffin, decayed beyond recognition by the ravages of time.

Yet at the center of this corpse was a rectangular piece of paper. Focusing carefully, I realized it resembled something I had seen before.

Just then, as if summoned, the black coffin shot up into the sky, disappearing without a trace.

“Chen Hao!”

After confirming the coffin was gone, I finally spoke with Chen Hao and the others.

I patted Chen Hao’s shoulder and said, “It’s not your fault.”

After all, the high school student under his watch had died, and Chen Hao felt somewhat guilty.

“Brother Zijian, I’m still too weak,” Chen Hao said regretfully.

Unlike Chen Hao’s guilt, Lin Xiayue seemed oddly pleased, as if relieved to have shed a burden.

Though I didn’t approve of Lin Xiayue’s attitude, she wasn’t wrong. We bore no obligation to protect people who had nothing to do with us.

The yellow mist did not dissipate with the coffin’s departure; instead, it thickened, as though determined to completely block our vision.

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Chen Hao pointed at Feng Qian behind me and asked, “Brother Zijian, aren’t you going to comfort your little brother?”

I shook my head. “This kid’s adaptability is decent. He’ll get through this phase.”

Though Feng Qian was terribly frightened, he had to accept the truth.

I couldn’t lie to him and say it was all a dream—that once he woke up, none of this had happened. Such a lie was not only impossible to utter but also useless.

Facing reality was the only way to solve problems. You might dodge misfortune for a while, but you can’t escape it forever.

Since Feng Qian was already caught up in this trial, there was no way out for him.

After evading the black coffin’s assault, I finally had time to check my phone for messages.

Information about the trial appeared: surviving three days in the Sealed Gate Ghost Village was the requirement.

Completing this task would allow a safe return to the tall building, where we could enjoy a week of peaceful rest.

I no longer thought about escaping this trial. The head teacher had repeatedly emphasized that even if we managed to flee, we would be captured again, forced to continue living under the trial’s rules.

If I truly wanted to end this seemingly endless life-and-death trial with minimal casualties, the simplest way was to find the Big Ghost and Little Ghost.

According to the head teacher, the Big Ghost and Little Ghost hid among the contractors and could mimic their abilities.

This meant anyone around me could have been replaced by one of them.

Was it Zheng Wei, Su Mu, Tan Tou, Han Xue—the contractors who had already awakened? Or was it one of the others near me, equally unable to fully unleash their power?

If ordinary contractors could end the trial by this method, then for the Big Ghost and Little Ghost, there was only one way.

Only when the number of contractors was reduced to just one besides themselves would the trial end.

Logically, Big Ghost and Little Ghost would do everything possible to prevent us from completing the task, causing more deaths.

But these trials had proceeded in an orderly fashion. Could it be that Big Ghost and Little Ghost hadn’t appeared yet?

Could it be Qian Duoduo? He suddenly appeared in the D University trial, the only transfer student contractor.

His earlier words now made sense to me: only after entering D University could he fully use his abilities because of its unique environment.

Yet Qian Fatty’s explanation for coming to D University was somewhat far-fetched.

Could Qian Fatty be one of the Big Ghost or Little Ghost?

Speaking of Qian Fatty, I thought of another person—the voyeur we almost caught at the shop when Lin Wan and I met Qian Fatty again.

I felt this voyeur had been stalking us multiple times. Even during the library melee, I sensed someone watching me.

But he was cunning; whenever I looked toward him, he would suppress his presence, leaving me powerless.

This voyeur was now the prime suspect.

The problem I pondered was how to uncover this suspect.

As I was thinking, that familiar sensation of being watched returned. The person was somewhere inside this Sealed Gate Ghost Village.

Excluding Lin Xiayue and Chen Hao beside me, the rest were suspects.

Sun Cheng, Li Feng, Wang Shaowei, Jiang Linlin—who could it be?

Was it Sun Cheng, the skinny monkey who parted ways with me after Wu Yuwei’s death?

Although I had some grudges against Jiang Linlin, I didn’t know her well.

I had only seen Wang Shaowei once in the library.

Could it be Li Yuan? He had previously lied about his poker suit. Either he or Qian Duoduo must have been lying.

If one of them was indeed the Big Ghost or Little Ghost, could I strike and kill him?

Chen Hao called me several times, bringing me back to the present.

He and Lin Xiayue had returned to the main road of the village. The entire village was now shrouded in the yellow mist.

“Could this be poisonous?” Chen Hao made a breath-holding gesture.

But I had already reached my limit holding my breath.

Helpless, I inhaled a deep breath of the yellow gas. Aside from some throat irritation, no other symptoms appeared.

But now there was no choice; we couldn’t hold our breath for three days straight.

If this mist was indeed toxic, logically, the poison would manifest within a day.

That meant we had to find the source of the yellow mist and deal with the black coffin to survive.

I paired Chen Hao with Lin Xiayue, confident I could still protect Feng Qian.

The four of us split into two groups, rushing into two adjacent houses.

Although splitting up was not ideal under these circumstances, there was no other way to search efficiently.

I forcibly dragged Feng Qian into a dilapidated house, immediately activating the ancient mirror’s phantom to scan the interior.

There were no signs of ghostly creatures.

Before Feng Qian could react, I pulled him out and hurried to the next location.

I thought Feng Qian was just scared and let me drag him around, but as time passed, the sun rose high in the sky.

The scorching sun did nothing to disperse the yellow mist; if anything, it added a scorching heat.

Suddenly, Feng Qian broke free from my grasp and stopped.

“What’s wrong, Feng Qian?”

He didn’t answer.

Looking up at his sunken eye sockets and vacant eyes, I knew it was over.

This kid was possessed by something!

Feng Qian let out a sinister laugh toward me. Behind him, a black coffin stained with blood marks appeared, emitting a ghostly glow.