Chapter 3: "Why Was the University Built on a Mass Grave?"
“I should have bought a pack of cigarettes.”
Chen Kun hadn’t taken off his clothes. He curled up under the blanket, leaning against the headboard, his eyes fixed rigidly on the pitch-black television screen. He stared at his own reflection on the screen, licking his dry lips as he murmured to himself.
If only he had a cigarette now, it would greatly dilute the overwhelming fear coursing through him.
He had prepared everything.
The bathroom and room lights were turned to their brightest.
The windows were sealed tight, curtains drawn perfectly closed; every crack around the window and door was stuffed tightly with bath towels. The bed was solid, so there was no worry about anything creeping from underneath.
This was his first night in this world.
He only hoped that this world would treat him a little more kindly on the very first night.
“Come on...”
Chen Kun looked at the zero hour on his watch, feeling a flush of heat all over his body, his chest tight and breath somewhat stifled. His fear level had already climbed to 61%.
Then—
A sudden gust of wind blew outside the window, and following it came the crisp, clear laughter of a little girl.
“Giggle, giggle, giggle.”
Chen Kun’s body tensed instantly. His face twisted in terror as he stuffed the blanket into his mouth to stifle any sound. His eyes were filled with despair and dread; this was madness—just past midnight and here she was, punctual as hell, showing up right on the dot!
His fear level surged abruptly to 92%.
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”
His lips had turned pale blue, his body uncontrollably trembling as he kept reassuring himself silently. The inn was supposed to be a safe house; those ghosts could only torment him in this manner.
Just think of her as a normal little girl.
But then—
“Click.”
A faint sound echoed inside the room—that of the window latch being undone.
“...”
Chen Kun tapped several times on his watch screen and initiated a voice call to his only friend. The call was answered quickly, but his voice trembled noticeably.
“Excuse me, what do I do if a ghost breaks into a safe house?”
It was the young woman from his company earlier that day.
“Ah?”
Her tone was surprised.
“You’re the new guy who just joined today? Generally speaking, ghosts don’t easily enter safe houses, unless it’s a place heavy with yin energy. In such areas, there’s a small chance of higher-level ghosts manifesting, and these ghosts might penetrate lower-level safe houses.”
“Where are you?”
“Garden Inn.”
Chen Kun spoke rapidly. He could already see the window behind the curtain pushed open slightly.
“The inn next to Qingyuan University?”
“Yes.”
“How come you’re staying there? That university is built on a massive ancient burial ground, that area’s not exactly safe.”
“Why would a university be built on a burial ground?”
“Are there universities not built on burial grounds?”
“Is there any way to handle this?”
By now, Chen Kun had gotten out of bed, clutching a pen he found on the inn’s table tightly in his hand. His voice shook as he leaned against the corner of the room, enunciating each word.
“I think... I’m about to die.”
“Uh...”
There was a long hesitation on the other end.
“Ghosts feed on fear. The higher your fear level, the greater the value you have to them. Try lowering your fear level—maybe that will make it lose interest in you.”
“Really?”
Chen Kun glanced down at his wristwatch.
—
Fear Level: 97%.
—
It seemed this method wasn’t going to help much.
By now, the window behind the curtain had been pushed open completely, and the little girl’s laughter echoed clearly throughout the room.
Chen Kun felt cold sweat covering his back. His legs felt as heavy as lead. He hung up the call and clung to his last shred of hope, dialing 110—the emergency number in this world remained the same.
“There’s a ghost in the room. Location: Room 404, Garden Inn.”
The moment the call connected, he immediately reported the situation.
The person on the other end clearly sensed the severity and responded promptly.
“Understood. During the day, we will come to collect the body. Do you have any last words to convey?”
“Fuck off.”
“Condolences.” The operator politely ended the call.
The next moment—
The curtain was thrown wide open. The bright daylight lamp inside instantly went out, leaving the room bathed only in moonlight.
There, sitting by the window, was a little girl clutching a doll. Her mouth was filled with at least thirty or forty tiny teeth, the grin occupying nearly half of her face. Her eyes gleamed with a sinister, bloodthirsty light as she silently smiled at him.
“So ugly...”
At that moment,
Chen Kun’s taut nerves finally collapsed entirely.
His body blazed with heat. His heart pounded violently as he curled into the corner clutching the pen, a grim smile twisting his lips as he cursed softly, trying to lessen his terror.
His fear level hit 100%.
The watch screen flashed red wildly, a last warning before disaster.
He wasn’t afraid of anything in this life—except ghosts.
...
The next day, just at dawn,
Two men in police uniforms, carrying body bags, arrived at the Garden Inn. They knocked on the reception desk and looked sternly at the middle-aged woman behind the counter.
“We received a call last night from Room 404 about a ghost intrusion. We’re here to collect the body.”
“Show me your Safe House Certification.”
“Huh?”
The middle-aged woman paused briefly, then pulled out the inn's license, complaining with evident displeasure.
“We have the Safe House Certification. This has nothing to do with me. Our inn hasn’t had a death in over two months.”
“I just thought the kid in Room 404 seemed off yesterday, so I was worried. Didn’t expect he really died.”
“What a pain.”
“My ratings on the review site are going to drop again. It took two months to raise them by having no deaths. Business will suffer for a while now.”
“I’ll show you up there.”
Soon,
Led by the middle-aged woman, the two policemen arrived at Room 404. The door was tightly shut. They exchanged a glance and each drew an unusual handgun from their holsters.
“Bang!”
The door was kicked open easily.
The woman, holding keys, sighed deeply and silently stepped aside, unwilling to see what she shouldn’t. The two officers strode inside.
The next moment—
“Ugh!”
A younger officer burst out into the hallway, face flushed red, uncontrollably vomiting. After a while, the other middle-aged officer emerged, his expression complicated.
He turned to the confused middle-aged woman and said,
“Congratulations, your review ratings can be saved. The guest in Room 404 didn’t die last night—he’s currently unconscious.”
“Didn’t die?”
The woman, who had been complaining moments ago, looked bewildered.
“That’s impossible. When he checked in, he wasn’t a professional—just an ordinary person. How could he have survived?”
“Ordinary people can’t face ghosts and live.”
As he said this, he instinctively peered inside the room.
The next moment—
“Ugh!”
The woman turned pale and ran out into the hallway, dry heaving uncontrollably.
For the first time—
She saw a ghost so gruesomely dead.
A doll, torn to pieces and scattered amid pools of blood and mangled flesh.
The horrific inferno inside the room crashed like relentless waves on her mind.
In the sea of blood,
Over forty teeth, still with bits of flesh attached, were pulled out and scattered all over the room.
The entire scene resembled a hand-torn Brazilian barbecue.