Chapter 24: A Madman Lost in Delusions, Talking to Himself

Chapter 24: The Delusional, Raving Madman

For a moment, all the students inside froze, rooted to the spot. None dared to move or respond to the noises outside, as the air practically solidified.

"Open the door! I know there are people inside! I really am Wang Lin!"

"Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!!"

When no response came from inside, the thing outside grew more frantic, slamming the door so hard that even the sturdy wooden panels trembled violently.

"It..." someone stammered, "it won’t break the door down and come in, will it?"

Everyone’s thoughts were tangled like a knotted skein—only Yi Fengchu remained calm.

He recalled the charred, shapeless mass on the path earlier, the one that had crumbled to ashes after calling his name. A faint, amused suspicion surfaced in his mind.

Just as the thing outside urged again, Yi Fengchu spoke up first: "You claim to be Wang Lin—how can you prove it? Do you know who we all are?"

The students around him shot him stunned looks, noticing that his usually dark, unreadable eyes now flickered with something like fascination.

Facing an unknown monster separated only by a door, he actually smiled—as if he had finally found something intriguing in his otherwise mundane life.

It made their scalps prickle, triggering a primal fear, as if they were standing before a predator. They couldn’t tell which was more terrifying—the thing outside or him.

"Of course I remember," the voice outside answered without hesitation. "I remember Li Yin, Chen Yun..."

It proceeded to list the students’ names one by one—except for Yi Fengchu.

Yi Fengchu pondered: *Did this deliberate omission mean the thing outside also realized that uttering his name carried a destructive risk?*

Under the bewildered gazes of his classmates, who now looked at him as if he were a madman, Yi Fengchu remained unblinking. Testing a theory, he pressed further: "What about me? What’s my name?"

"..."

Silence lingered outside for a moment before the voice, now tinged with fear and reluctance, gritted out the words:

"Your name is... Yi Feng—"

It barely managed a few syllables before abruptly cutting off, as if an invisible force had choked its throat.

Then, a familiar, piercing screech erupted, forcing everyone to cover their ears in agony, as if sharp claws were scraping against their eardrums.

Yi Fengchu, prepared for this, calmly slipped on noise-canceling headphones, drowning out the scream with music.

When the shrieking finally ceased, the group inside remained tense, staring at the door with bated breath. But no further sounds came.

"That... that thing..." Li Yin murmured dazedly, "is it still out there?"

Yi Fengchu reassured her, "Don’t worry, it’s gone."

—And likely, in the most literal sense, no longer among the living.

At the same time, Yi Fengchu noted the strange tone and hesitation when the voice outside tried to say his name.

He was also surprised—why had the thing willingly stepped into its own demise, despite knowing the danger?

No, "willingly" wasn’t the right word. It seemed more like, no matter how afraid, angry, or resentful it was, it had no choice but to answer when asked for its name...

*Was this some rule these creatures were bound by?*

Normally, this "response" would have been its tried-and-true tactic for harming people. But in that moment, it had become a blade turned against itself.

From this perspective, Yi Fengchu’s name was nothing short of lethal poison to such creatures—their very kryptonite.

The other students also noticed the thing’s strange reaction to Yi Fengchu, regarding him with a mix of awe and curiosity.

Li Yin hesitantly approached, whispering cautiously, "Cl-Classmate Yi... was that 'voice' afraid of you? What... what was that thing?"

This was the question on everyone’s mind.

"I don’t know," Yi Fengchu shook his head, omitting irrelevant details as he briefly recounted his experience on the path—hearing the call, turning back, and finding only ashes.

"I just had a thought—if my name worked against the first one, maybe it could drive this one away too. Luckily, it seems I was right."

He explained it all with an air of feigned indifference, trying to paint himself as nothing more than a lucky bystander. But the way his fellow students looked at him had already changed—

They were all university students, yet while the rest of them had been fleeing in terror, Yi Fengchu had scared off a "ghost" with just his name.

The real deal was right here!

The revelation left them stunned, their shock momentarily overpowering their earlier fear. Outlandish theories took flight in their minds.

Yi Fengchu’s sharp hearing even caught two people whispering in the corner:

"Y’know, in those supernatural novels, there’s always some unassuming badass hiding among ordinary people. No wonder he always felt so distant..."

"But Xiao Yi is our age. It’s not like he started learning Taoist magic at three and was banishing spirits by kindergarten, right? This is real life, not a novel—that’s just absurd."

"Who knows? If ghosts exist, maybe reincarnation does too. Maybe in his past life, he was some enlightened master who transcended. Now he’s reborn as a student, memories gone, but his powers remain..."

"..."

Even though they were huddled in a corner and whispering, he could still hear them clearly.

Yi Fengchu found it baffling—he was right there, yet his classmates were already weaving tall tales about him!

And they were getting ridiculous...

Though his phone sat quietly in his pocket like any ordinary smartphone, he could almost hear its muffled snickering.

After a short rest, their pounding hearts gradually calmed, color returning to their cheeks.

But as they shared nervous looks, none dared to leave the living room or stray from the group anytime soon.

One brave student cautiously inched toward the door, pressing an ear against it to listen. Hearing nothing unusual, they slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Just as it cracked open slightly, the door seemed to hit something heavy, catching briefly.

The student’s heart skipped a beat as they peered through the gap—

"Ah!"

Their sudden cry made the others jump, tensing up in alarm.

"There’s... there’s someone lying outside the door!"

...

"When we opened the door, Wang Er was slumped against the wall, head hanging—we couldn’t tell what was wrong..." Li Yin led Teacher Ju to the doorway, pointing at the spot by the threshold—where inky, coagulated droplets had stained the concrete, like spattered blood.

"Because of that creature pretending to be Wang Er earlier, we were all too scared to approach at first. It wasn’t until Classmate Yi said it was safe that we went to check on Wang Er’s condition."

"Lifting his face, we could finally see a black, viscous fluid—like congealed blood mixed with what looked like incense ash—seeping from his eye sockets, mouth, and ears..."

As the image of Wang Er’s face covered in black fluid surfaced in her mind, Li Yin’s face contorted with fear:

"The strangest part was that Wang Er’s eyes were tightly shut, yet his expression was twisted and ferocious, his mouth gaping wide, his facial muscles taut—as if he were screaming hysterically."

Teacher Ju stared at the unknown droplets on the ground, her expression growing increasingly grim.

"I've got a pretty good idea of what's happening here. You should all gather your belongings. It’s best we leave as soon as possible, but..."

Here, Teacher Ju’s face darkened with worry. She glanced at her phone—the screen was filled from top to bottom with bright red missed call notifications, standing out sharply in the dim evening light.

"But there’s still no response from Professor Lin. I suspect something’s happened to her," Teacher Ju sighed, voicing an even worse possibility. "If Professor Lin is in trouble while the village chief keeps being evasive, then this village might not be safe either."

Li Yin jumped. "Then—should we call the police?"

"The calls won't connect," Teacher Ju shook her head. "I already tried. Ever since we entered the village, our phones haven’t been able to contact the outside world..."

"As much as I hate to believe it, there might truly be something supernatural at work here," the teacher said with a bitter smile.

Alarmed, Li Yin frantically checked her phone.

Sure enough, though the signal showed full bars and web pages loaded normally, any attempt to send a message resulted in a bright red error icon—delivery failed.

Teacher Ju said, "There are too many of us to move together. It’s best to pick a few brave, reliable students to slip out after dark to get help."

"As for the rest, you’ll have to stay in the village for now. Avoid conflicts with the villagers. Didn’t you say Xiao Yi’s name can repel evil spirits? If something like ‘ghost knocking’ happens again, try calling for him. And don’t go off by yourself."

"As for me," Teacher Ju hesitated, "the last thing Professor Lin mentioned was finding a hidden cave in a certain direction, with unprecedented discoveries inside... I plan to investigate it when I get the chance."

Seeing Li Yin’s lips pressed into a thin line and her face pale, Teacher Ju patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Don’t be afraid. With so many of us, we’ll all get out of here safely."

"This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have brought you all to such a dangerous place," Teacher Ju murmured guiltily.

"Teacher, don’t say that! Nobody saw this coming," Li Yin said indignantly. "It’s whatever evil is doing this that is to blame!"

Too disheartened to elaborate, Teacher Ju waved a hand. "Let’s have dinner first, then decide our next move."

The topic concerned everyone present, so they hadn't bothered to speak privately.

A dark mood settled over the students, smothering their earlier excitement, leaving only tense silence.

Seated on a nearby couch, Yi Fengchu listened to Teacher Ju’s arrangements, wearing a thoughtful expression.

As Teacher Ju passed by, he suddenly spoke up. "Teacher, I recall you always keep your call recording feature enabled, worried you might forget important details."

After Teacher Ju nodded hesitantly, he asked politely, "If you don't mind, could we listen to your call with Professor Lin?"

Normally, such a request would be intrusive, but under these circumstances, confidentiality wasn't a concern anymore.

Teacher Ju thought—since she had brought these students here, she owed them the truth.

They had a right to know what was happening.

So she nodded, scrolled through her phone, and pulled up the recording. Pressing play, she held it out—

Instantly, her upbeat voice, slightly garbled, came through: "Hello, Professor Lin? I heard you’ve been traveling for research. What made you reach out?"

"..."

Clearly, there was no response—only occasional bursts of static breaking the silence.

Yet, in the recording, Teacher Ju responded as if hearing normal conversation, making cheerful small talk: "Oh, so you’re in Southwest Linhe County now? How’s the research going?"

"...Zzzzt..."

"That’s good."

"Zzz..."

"Sounds like the scenery’s nice? Fengyi Village, right? You’re inviting me and the students? Won’t we disturb your work?"

"..."

The other end remained silent throughout—only Teacher Ju’s voice filled the recording.

She sounded like someone having a psychotic episode, talking to dead air, making their skin crawl.

In the recording, Teacher Ju chuckled at the end. "Alright, I’ll ask the students and visit during the break."

"Mmm... I’m looking forward to Fengyi Village. The students and I will *definitely* love it there."

The recording ended with Teacher Ju’s cheerful voice. But in the living room, an uneasy silence settled—so heavy you could hear a pin drop.