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Sun Meng muttered to Ziya, but the latter seemed lost in confusion, paying no attention to what she was trying to express. Just then, chaotic footsteps and heavy breathing, along with voices, echoed from the other end of the path.
"Look, Sun Meng and Wang Yuan have no idea where they ran off to. We need to find them quickly," came Zhiqing's voice.
"Yeah, that girl was so scared earlier that she didn't even care about me and just took off," Ziya replied.
Sun Meng froze. If Ziya and Zhiqing were together, then who was beside her? Slowly turning her head and gradually releasing her grip, she wanted to see who the person she had mistakenly grabbed was. A pale face with a ghastly sheen grinned back at her… "Oh my god!" Sun Meng screamed in horror, letting go of the wrong hand and running towards the direction where Ziya and the others were coming from.
"Sun Meng… What’s wrong? What’s wrong?" Ziya exclaimed as she hugged the nearly frantic Sun Meng, hurriedly asking for an explanation. Zhiqing quickly shone the flashlight in the direction Sun Meng had come from, revealing only low bushes and some discarded items piled up by the school. He thought to himself: there’s no one here; what on earth did Sun Meng see?
"Ghost… ghost… I saw a ghost… ghost…" Sun Meng buried her face in Ziya's arm, too scared to look up at the dark space, her voice trembling as she mumbled.
"No way," Zhiqing said, swallowing hard in panic. He handed the flashlight to Sun Meng and said, "You check for yourself; there’s nothing there."
Ziya was also startled by Sun Meng's frantic voice, shivering uncontrollably. Remembering that they were all together, she forced herself to stay calm and gently patted Sun Meng's back to comfort her.
"No… you don’t understand. I actually held her hand just now; her face was so pale… really," Sun Meng insisted, refusing to take the flashlight while desperately trying to explain to Ziya and Zhiqing that what she had seen was undeniably real.
"How about we skip going to Yellow Crane Tower? Look at how scared Sun Meng is," Ziya suggested to Zhiqing while supporting Sun Meng's trembling shoulders.
"But… what about Wang Yuan? We can’t just leave him behind!" Zhiqing protested, shaking the flashlight as he scanned around in search of Wang Yuan.
"Then… let’s go! We’ll find him and then leave," Ziya reassured both Zhiqing and Sun Meng.
A sudden gust of wind swept through, but where had it come from? After running aimlessly, Wang Yuan stumbled over countless steps and pushed through several bushes before darting into a room, throwing open the door without hesitation. It was only when he finally stopped that he realized the others hadn’t followed him. The place was shrouded in darkness; surely there must be some lights in this room! Although he had known there were no streetlights along the way, the situation inside remained a mystery.
Exhausted, Wang Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his brow, a result of both fear and the frantic sprint. Without caring for anything else, he collapsed onto the floor. After resting for a moment, he began to examine his surroundings more closely. Was this room part of the Yellow Crane Tower? But he didn’t remember climbing any stairs or entering through a grand door; where exactly was he?
Wang Yuan sniffed the air and detected not only a musty odor but also a sour stench. Sitting on the ground, he felt something was off and decided to get up to assess the terrain. Unfortunately, all he could think about was how they needed just one flashlight when they were all together; who would have thought they would scatter midway? He remembered that the flashlight was in Zhiqing’s hands, and now he could only fumble around in the dark to figure out what this place was.
As Wang Yuan struggled to rise and adjust his eyes to the dim environment, he heard rustling sounds coming from another corner. “Who’s there?” he called out, but the rustling abruptly ceased. No one answered his question, which left him feeling frustrated.
“Speak up! If you don’t say anything, I won’t hold back!” Wang Yuan boasted to himself as a boy with a wild spirit unafraid of anything. In the pitch-blackness, he could see nothing; could it be that he had truly encountered a ghost? He thought to himself.
Just as Wang Yuan finished speaking, he felt a gust of wind and an unfamiliar scent rush toward him, followed by a sharp pain in his head… He realized too late that something terrible had happened.
Meanwhile, Zhiqing and the others were searching for Wang Yuan. “Did you see which direction he ran?” Zhiqing asked loudly. Inside, he thought: During the day, people can find each other easily; at night, it’s much harder. The beam of their flashlight barely illuminated anything far ahead without alerting others. This reckless kid had run off who knows where; if I catch him, I’ll give him a good beating just to vent my frustration.
As they approached the Yellow Crane Tower, the three hesitated about whether to check it out. Sun Meng had lost all desire to speak; she clung tightly to Ziya’s arm and kept glancing back as if something were following her. Ziya, who had initially felt no fear, was now unnerved by Sun Meng's anxious demeanor. They used the faint light from their flashlight to reach the towering threshold of the Yellow Crane Tower and realized just how small they felt.
The original Stone Lion at the entrance of Yellow Crane Tower had long been moved elsewhere, leaving behind two deep indentations in its place. “Should we… go inside?” Ziya asked hoarsely, her throat dry as she spoke those words. Sun Meng’s ghostly expression truly frightened her; she feared something strange might happen.
The grand entrance of Yellow Crane Tower was painted crimson red with two brass rings hanging from it—an ancient design for doorbells. Anyone outside wishing to visit would simply press down on these rings and knock against the door panel below so that the owner inside could hear and come to open it.
Zhiqing handed the flashlight to Ziya and stepped forward with both hands ready to push open the heavy doors. He exerted all his strength but found that they wouldn’t budge at all.
“Let’s all push together,” Ziya suggested to Sun Meng and Zhiqing.
"No need, I think it's better not to go in after such an unsuccessful start tonight. Wang Yuan probably hasn't gone in either," Zhiqing said, stopping Ziya's suggestion.
"Why? Are you so sure he won't go in?"
"I couldn't even push this door open no matter how hard I tried. Besides, Wang Yuan is much weaker than I am; how could he possibly push this door open in a panic?" Zhiqing sighed, furrowing his brow as he analyzed the situation.
"Then... what should we do?" Ziya asked, feeling somewhat dejected.
"This selfish guy might have already run home. There's no way he would still be waiting for us here," Sun Meng exclaimed, eager to leave the place and addressing Ziya and Zhiqing.
Zhiqing thought to himself: After all this searching, they hadn't even seen a trace of Wang Yuan. Where else could he have gone but back home?
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