Resurgence of the Unknown

Chapter 17: The Curse of the Evil Spirit

All eyes were on Yang Jian. When they saw him dial the number and heard a phone ringing somewhere in the school, they were puzzled. But before they could ask, Yang Jian abruptly hung up the call, his face pale with fear.

"Yang Jian, w-what's going on?" Zhang Wei asked, trembling as he noticed the fear on Yang Jian's face. "Don't scare me like that. We're all counting on you. If you're this freaked out, I don't know what to do. Please, just smile or something, like when you're watching a movie, so I can feel a little more confident."

Yang Jian's calm demeanor and his leadership in guiding them out of the ghost domain had given everyone hope. Seeing him like this, however, was enough to send everyone into a panic.

Yang Jian's expression darkened, his face twisted in a grimace. Before he could say anything, Zhou Zheng's satellite phone rang in his hand, emitting a series of beeps.

He glanced at the screen and his eyes widened in shock.

The caller ID read: 138...

It was the same number left by Thunder Lord on the forum. The call was coming from that number.

"So it really is... a trap, a terrifying trap," Yang Jian muttered through gritted teeth, his voice a mix of anger and fear.

The phone continued to ring, but Yang Jian didn't answer. He knew that whoever—or whatever—was calling couldn't possibly be human. Who knew what might happen if he picked up?

Thankfully, the phone's settings worked in his favor, and the ringing eventually stopped. After a few moments of not answering, the call was disconnected. The phone remained silent; no further calls came in.

But then...

A cacophony of ringtones erupted from the other students' phones. Each one with a different ringtone—some classic, some cheesy, some pop songs—but all unmistakably eerie in the silence.

Everyone pulled out their phones and saw the same thing: the caller ID all displayed the same number, 138...

"Yang Jian, look," Wang Shanshan, Miao Xiaoshan, Zhao Lei, and the others held out their phones to show him the screen, their eyes filled with fear.

"Don't answer it," Yang Jian said, his voice heavy with seriousness.

The others nodded in agreement, understanding the eeriness of these calls and knowing that answering would be a grave mistake.

Zhang Wei didn't have a phone—his was with Yang Jian. Seeing the others' screens, he shivered. "What the hell is this? One number calling all of us at the same time? This is some haunted phone shit."

"My call isn't from 138, it's from Mr. Wang," said a classmate named Qian Wanhao, who instinctively answered the call.

"Qian Wanhao, are you out of your mind?" Zhao Lei shouted in fear, nearly shaking. "We just said not to answer the phone!"

"Relax, it's Mr. Wang's number," Qian Wanhao replied. "Maybe he's trying to save us."

"Hang up, now!" Yang Jian's eyes narrowed, and he rushed over to snatch the phone and end the call.

Mr. Wang's number?

That was even more terrifying. Mr. Wang had been the first to disappear into the ghost domain. If everyone else was dead, how could he still be alive?

Sure enough, the only sound coming from Qian Wanhao's phone was a faint, static noise. Mr. Wang didn't say a word.

But then, something else came through the speaker, something that sent a chill down Yang Jian's spine.

Knock, knock, knock...

The sound of knocking, just like the one from outside the classroom earlier, heavy and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Qian Wanhao's face went pale. His hands shook, and he quickly dropped the phone.

It hit the ground with a crack, the screen shattering, but the call remained connected.

Knock, knock, knock...

The eerie knocking continued to echo from the phone's speaker.

Knock, knock, knock...

Yang Jian rushed over, snatching the phone and ending the call as quickly as possible.

"Qian Wanhao, you idiot! If you want to die, fine, but don't drag us down with you!" Zhao Lei shouted, grabbing Qian Wanhao by the collar. Despite his anger, the fear in his eyes was unmistakable. He didn't know what would happen next, but he was certain it wouldn't be good.

"Damn it, the saying is true—'It's not the enemy you fear, but the fool on your side.' In times like these, there's always someone stupid enough to step up and get themselves killed. And not just themselves, but everyone else too. Qian Wanhao, you're just too impressive. I'm so moved by your stupidity that I feel like killing someone. Even after nine years of mandatory education, I've never met anyone as brilliant as you," Zhang Wei ranted. "That old man outside the classroom, is he your grandpa or something? If you love him so much, why don't you go ask him to spare us?"

"I-I didn't mean to! The number said it was Mr. Wang calling. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have answered," Qian Wanhao sobbed like a child, wiping his tears.

"Mr. Wang's call? If he told you to die, would you do that too?" Zhao Lei was so furious he was ready to punch him.

"That's enough. Everyone, calm down. This isn't the time for this," Yang Jian intervened. "This situation is partly my fault. I should have warned you all earlier. But fighting and turning on each other won't help us survive. Take a look at where we are."

The group fell silent, their anger and fear temporarily subdued.

"Yang Jian, what's going to happen now that he answered the call?" Miao Xiaoshan asked nervously.

"What else could happen? Soon, Qian Wanhao's 'grandpa' will come pay us a visit," Yang Jian said grimly.

"What?"

Everyone's eyes widened in terror.

Yes, that old man was definitely coming.

The knocking sound from the phone carried a horrifying implication: it could summon that old man. And the outcome was all too clear.

Moreover...

Yang Jian clutched the phone tightly, recalling the post from Thunder Lord on the forum.

"A trap. The entire story on the forum is a trap. Thunder Lord encountered the old man knocking on his door while he was at home. From what happened in the classroom, it's clear that someone died when the old man knocked on the first door... And Thunder Lord's house had two doors—one was the front door, the other was the bedroom door."

"In other words, Thunder Lord died the moment the first knock sounded on his front door. Everything posted on the forum after that couldn't have been written by him. The phone number and audio file weren't his doing. The only thing that could've done it..."

"Is a ghost."

Yang Jian took several deep breaths to calm himself.

That's right. The first part of the post was written by Thunder Lord, but at some point, he died. After that, it was the ghost posting the rest... spreading its curse.

Everyone who hears the knocking sound is marked, and the old man will come for them.

This explains everything that has happened so far.

"Hearing the knocking through the internet or phone calls marks you, like an invisible coordinate. But if you hear the knocking in person, you'll die immediately... But then why didn't the old man appear when I played the audio file in the bathroom?"

Sweat beaded on Yang Jian's forehead as he tried to piece together the rules governing the old man's actions and his method of killing.

All to find a way to survive.