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Yesterday's chaos didn't affect the building at all; the blood-red staircase and black mist were just hallucinations caused by an excess of yin energy. It's broad daylight now, with strong sunlight, and ordinary people can't sense the presence of yin energy; at most, they might feel a bit cold in the library.

But who knows what will happen after five days? Without the protective weather vane, the yin energy accumulated on campus will grow wildly, turning into a rapidly spinning, eerie vortex. Ma Ming estimates that if the yin energy cannot be suppressed again within five days at the latest, even the midday sun will be unable to neutralize it, and all evil spirits will erupt on campus.

Currently, Ma Ming can only be certain of one thing: if the root cause isn't figured out, he and Shen Fengxi simply cannot handle this situation on their own. Thinking of this, even the usually optimistic Ma Ming couldn't help but sigh slightly.

When Ma Ming reached the fifth floor, he suddenly saw someone rushing down. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Wu Guoan, the director of the Academic Affairs Office. Wu Guoan looked flustered, with a few drops of sweat on his oily forehead. Ma Ming found this quite strange, because the Academic Affairs Office was located in the administration building, and the floors above the fifth floor only contained the reading room, the school history room, and the book depository; school leaders rarely ventured there.

"Hey, Director Wu, hello." Ma Ming waved his hand; he was usually very easygoing with everyone.

"Oh, uh..." Wu Guoan glanced at Ma Ming, nodded vaguely, and continued walking downstairs. Only then did Ma Ming notice that Wu Guoan was holding a cell phone and had an earpiece in his ear; perhaps he was talking to someone. Ma Ming shrugged and continued walking upstairs. As he stepped onto the fifth floor and took the last step, he heard Wu Guoan, who was almost on the fourth floor, suddenly raise his voice and shout, "How can that be! This is different from what we originally agreed on!" Wu Guoan probably realized he was being too loud, looked around warily, and quickly lowered his voice. Ma Ming wasn't one for gossip, so he gave the middle-aged, overweight man a sympathetic look and turned to walk towards the reading room.

The reading room was quiet, with only one teacher leisurely flipping through a newspaper at a table. High school students rarely have time to come to the library, and the reading room mostly displays mainstream magazines that high school students have no interest in, so the room is practically deserted. Ma Ming asked the teacher on duty for the key and opened the small door to the school history room.

As soon as Ma Ming opened the door, a strong smell of dust hit him. This room had probablyn't been opened in a long time; everything inside was covered in a thick layer of dust. Several award certificates were pasted on the wall, their paper yellowed; Ma Ming glanced at the dates and saw they were from 1968. There were no chairs or tables in the room; files and similar items were piled on the floor, hastily tied together with a few pieces of paper twine. Only a few relatively new issues of the "School History Special Issue" sat alone on a shelf, left over from the school's anniversary celebrations a couple of years ago.

Ma Ming covered his nose and patted the dust around with his hand, sending up a cloud of dust that lingered for a long time. He dragged the bundles of books to the door, found a chair and some scissors, and then sat down to begin his reading.

Researching materials is a tedious and time-consuming task. Ma Ming had to carefully examine these lengthy and tedious documents, and there was no guarantee of finding anything. By 6:30 p.m., Ma Ming had still come up empty-handed. All the materials were official jargon and platitudes, as well as lists of honors the school had received over the years—nothing he hoped to find.

The librarian tapped on the table, signaling him to hurry, as closing time was in half an hour. Ma Ming nodded to indicate he understood and continued futilely rummaging through the pile of old papers. The prolonged reading had exhausted his eyes, forcing him to take a break. He removed his glasses to do some eye exercises, but accidentally dropped them. Ma Ming sighed, bent down to pick them up, and suddenly noticed a thin file folder on the floor. This folder had probably fallen out while moving documents, which was why it hadn't been noticed. The folder was thin, about two feet square, the style of a leather file folder from over a decade ago. The cover was blank, only marked with the year 1984.

Ma Ming picked up the file folder, dusted it off, opened it, and took out a contract, a newspaper clipping, and a floor plan. The moment Ma Ming saw the floor plan, he froze, as if struck by lightning. The floor plan showed the current layout of the high school, similar to Ma Ming's hand-drawn version, but far more professional and detailed, even marking the distances and contour lines of each building. This discovery was so unexpected that even the usually composed Ma Ming could barely contain himself. He examined the plan closely, discovering many details he hadn't noticed before. Although it was unwritten, it was clear the author possessed considerable knowledge of feng shui.

Seeing the teacher on duty engrossed in a magazine, Ma Ming secretly slipped the picture into his pocket and casually looked at the other two documents. The contract was a construction agreement; the high school was the client, and the sixteenth construction team of the city's Third Construction Company was the contractor. The client's representative, Fang Fan, was the one who signed the agreement, while the contractor's representative was Nie Zhiyuan.

The clipping was a tiny article about overseas Chinese donating money to support education in their motherland, accompanied by a picture of a female student presenting flowers to a man in a suit, who bent down to accept them with a broad smile. Unfortunately, due to its age and poor quality, the man's face was quite blurry and his features were unclear.

"Hey, Teacher Ma, it's 7 o'clock, I'm closing the door!" the teacher on duty called out from outside.

"Okay, okay, coming, coming."

Ma Ming hurriedly stuffed the two documents into a file folder, then stood up and clapped his hands. This investigation had not only failed to solve any mysteries, but had also added another question. "But at least we have a direction now. A good start is half the battle," Ma Ming comforted himself, while secretly hoping that he would have two good starts.

"Then I'll be going. You should go home and rest early too. Try not to stay in the library at night," Ma Ming kindly said to the teacher on duty who was tidying up newspapers.

"Hey, who's going to be wandering around here so late at night?" The teacher on duty put the newspaper back on the shelf and started tidying up the magazines.

Ma Ming stepped out of the reading room, then suddenly poked his head back in and asked, "Oh, by the way, do you know who Fang Fan is?"

"Fang Fan?" The teacher on duty was taken aback and said, "Oh, I've heard that name before. I think he was one of our school's former principals, but I've never met him. He retired after a few years."

"Are there any people in our school who were his colleagues back then?"

The teacher on duty frowned and thought for a moment before replying, "Director Wu, it must be him."

Ma Ming said "Oh" and turned to leave.

After Xiao Gu left, Shen Fengxi tossed and turned in bed...

Of course, this wasn't due to emotional turmoil, but rather because his entire body was unbearably uncomfortable. It wasn't pain, but an indescribable, strange feeling, as if his whole body was suspended in mid-air, unable to touch the ground. Last night's intense battle had greatly depleted his energy, and the "conflict" just now had only exacerbated the situation. Although Xiao Gu had given him a massage, it only provided temporary relief.

This physical condition was incredibly frustrating for Shen Fengxi, because "if there's any emergency, I won't be able to escape safely." Just as he was feeling annoyed, three respectful knocks came from outside the dormitory door, which greatly displeased him, as he wanted to lie down quietly for a while.

"Is Shen Fengxi here?"

"He's not here, he's dead. Contact me again during the Qingming Festival if anything comes up," Shen Fengxi replied irritably.

There was a moment of silence outside the door, followed by three respectful knocks. A boy's voice came through: "Shen, this is Wu Bing. The teacher heard you weren't feeling well, so he sent us to visit you."

"Is it 'you guys'?" Shen Fengxi groaned inwardly. Was he really incapable of having a nice, quiet afternoon?

The door creaked open, and Wu Bing, Chu Yunnan, and Dong Hua entered the dormitory, each carrying a bag of apples. This deepened Shen Fengxi's depression. "Why does everyone buy apples that I don't eat!"

Wu Bing entered the dormitory and nudged Chu Yunnan, who then nudged Dong Hua. Dong Hua hurriedly placed an apple on the table, saying, "Student Shen, we've come to visit you on behalf of the class committee..."

"Just say what you have to say." Shen Fengxi raised his hand with difficulty to press his temples, looking like he wanted to hit them if he had the strength.

Wu Bing, Chu Yunnan, and Dong Hua exchanged glances. Chu Yunnan coughed and asked casually, "Do you know where Teacher Ma went? You all seem to know each other quite well."

"I'm not familiar with him, I don't know that guy." Shen Fengxi turned over. "I'm going to sleep now, nothing else."

Seeing Shen Fengxi's uncooperative attitude, Chu Yunnan and Dong Hua both looked at Wu Bing. Left with no other choice, Wu Bing reluctantly stepped forward and said:

"Uh... actually, we came here this time to tell you something. The reason why the three of us have been surveying the feng shui all over campus is mainly for the girls in our class."

Shen Fengxi scoffed dismissively. Wu Bing's face flushed slightly, and he hurriedly explained, "No, no, you've misunderstood, it's not like that... The truth is: In our class... there are four female students who live on campus, and they all have good grades. A while ago, something happened, and all four of them started acting strangely. They became quieter, and in class, their expressions were blank; they only answered questions briefly, as if they hadn't slept. The school doctor examined them but didn't find anything wrong, just gave them some vitamin pills. We told the teacher, but they didn't take it seriously."

"You guys are really enthusiastic... You must have ulterior motives, right?" Shen Fengxi pointed out incisively. Wu Bing didn't dare to respond and continued on his own, "Later, Chu Yunnan went back and told his grandmother, who said that they must have been possessed by an evil spirit. And this evil spirit is very powerful; we must find the source to restore them to normal. So we took the feng shui book and compass, hoping to find the source... As a result, we caused a huge disaster last night."

"Hmph, you all know that too."

"This morning, one of the girls in their dormitory, Jiang Ye, didn't come to class, and we can't find her anywhere. We don't know if this is related to what happened last night... so we want to ask Teacher Ma."

For some reason, Shen Fengxi felt a sudden shiver run down his spine, recalling the horrifying long-haired corpse in a school uniform from last night. Could it be...?

Just then, Chu Yunnan looked out the window and suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "How come it's already dark?" Wu Bing and Dong Hua both checked their watches; it was only a little before six o'clock.

Shen Fengxi laboriously turned his head to look out the window, then glanced at the doorway. His heart sank, and he muttered to himself, "This is terrible." The sudden darkness outside the window was clearly an unnatural force; the thick black was like ink, incredibly viscous, and he could even hear a low gurgling sound. There were even a few streaks of black seeping in from the cracks in the door, slowly but surely.

This is a semi-spiritual barrier formed by the combination of yin energy and ghostly spirits, similar to the one Shen Fengxi encountered in the internet cafe yesterday, but far more dangerous in scale. The one Wu Bing and the other two encountered in the library yesterday was also similar. It can isolate a certain area into another space, undetectable to outsiders.

So the four people in the dormitory all changed their expressions. The other three recalled their terrifying experience, while Shen Fengxi felt a profound sense of helplessness, as if facing imminent doom. He was now unable to move, and all that remained were three completely useless pieces of trash… wait, three pieces of trash?

"It seems we have no choice but to use this method." Shen Fengxi struggled to take out three talismans from the bedside table and ordered Wu Bing to immediately fetch a bottle of mineral water and some red fountain pen ink.

What are you going to do?

"Enough talk, if it's a matter of life and death, then hurry up and go!"

Wu Bing scrambled to the cupboard, retrieved a bottle of mineral water and a red fountain pen ink bottle, and handed them to Shen Fengxi. Shen Fengxi had them stand by the bed in turn, soaked the talismans in red fountain pen ink, and slapped them onto their chests with a "whoosh." Dong Hua, disgusted by the dirt, tried to move away, but Chu Yunnan grabbed him.

Shen Fengxi then opened a mineral water bottle, silently chanted an incantation, took a large gulp, and sprayed it onto the already reddened talisman paper. The chests of the three men immediately became wet and covered in red stains.

"Listen up, you three. I think you know how dangerous the situation is right now. Don't ask me why. We need to survive first before we can look for the reasons. I can't move right now, so I have to use you three as my arms. You must obey my orders unconditionally. Do whatever I tell you to do. Do you understand?"

Seeing how serious Shen Fengxi was, the three quickly agreed. Dong Hua, the most timid of them all, asked hesitantly, "W-Won't there be any danger?"

Shen Fengxi glanced at the blackness that was constantly pouring into the room, and gave Dong Hua a sinister yet gentle smile: "Don't worry, the worst outcome is that everyone except me will be wiped out."

Chapter Four

Midnight Paranormal Handbook, Chapter Four

The darkness outside the window was slowly and steadily flowing into the room. The entire cramped dormitory was like a small boat about to sink in a vast, inky ocean. The four people were crammed together like four rats on the deck.

"Hey, move over a bit, I don't have room here." Chu Yunnan timidly nudged Dong Hua's arm, and Dong Hua moved closer to Wu Bing, only to be met with Wu Bing's cold stare.

He glared at her, then could only shrink back, awkwardly curling his body up as much as possible, staring at the black figures with unease.

Wu Bing suddenly spoke up and asked, "Hey Fatty, I have a question for you."

Dong Hua quickly looked up, staring at Wu Bing with a bewildered expression.

Do you really like that girl from the next class?

Dong Hua's face flushed instantly, and the words squeezed out between her teeth, whether out of fear or embarrassment, were: "Is this the right time to talk about this!"

Chu Yunnan interjected with a bitter laugh: "This time, we might really be doomed. Can't you just give me a straight answer this time?"

Shen Fengxi shouted angrily, "If you're in the mood to recite lines from shonen manga, you might as well stand still!"

All three of them obediently shut their mouths; under these circumstances, none of them wanted to provoke this eccentric little devil.

Despite the pain, Shen Fengxi finished drawing the talismans on the three of them and then said, "Quick, go to the bed opposite and get a mirror."

Chu Yunnan rushed over and grabbed a round mirror with a radius of only a few dozen centimeters. At this moment, darkness seeped into the room, almost covering the entire floor. Shen Fengxi took the mirror and smashed it to the ground with a "crack," shattering it instantly.

"The three of you, each pick up the largest possible piece of the shard."

The three of them did as instructed and each picked up a slightly larger piece of lens.

"Look in the mirror, do you see anything unusual?"

Wu Bing, the boldest of them all, picked up a mirror and immediately widened his eyes. He abruptly looked up at the pitch-black night outside the window, then looked back at his reflection, his expression growing increasingly strange. Seeing his reaction, Chu Yunnan and Dong Hua also looked down at their glasses, both letting out a soft "Eh!"

The dormitory room reflected in the mirror was bright and clean, with the setting sun shining in, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. There wasn't a trace of darkness in the room, a stark contrast to the current state of the room.

"Could this be an illusion caused by the refraction of light?" Chu Yunnan asked, frowning.

Shen Fengxi ignored the physics class representative, instead raising a finger and coldly saying, "Remember, mirrors reflect reality; this darkness is just an illusion. So your eyes must not leave the mirror. You must use the mirror to remind yourselves, otherwise you will be corrupted by the darkness, and then it will all be over."

"Then what should we do?" Wu Bing asked.

"Stare in the mirror and try to think about other unrelated things... like you daydreaming in class," Shen Fengxi said, glancing around at the surroundings. The darkness had already filled most of the room and would soon reach their ankles. Through the mirror, he knew that the sun was gradually setting, and the moment just before sunset was the most dangerous. He had to prepare now.

Chu Yunnan habitually adjusted his non-existent glasses: "I understand. You mean we need to focus our attention elsewhere, not be seduced by darkness, and not let it cloud our judgment, right?"

"Yes."

Wu Bing immediately turned to Dong Hua: "Fatty, how about we continue our previous topic?"

Dong Hua asked blankly, "What?"

"About you and that guy from the next class."

"There's nothing wrong at all!"

"Idiot, aren't we trying to distract you? Just play along. Gossip has always been the most attractive thing since ancient times."

"But there's nothing there. Do you expect me to make one up?"

"You tell us yourself, or let Chu Yunnan and I make up stories for you. We can't guarantee what we'll say then..."

"If I still had the strength to run, I would definitely abandon these three guys as bait to buy time..." Shen Fengxi sighed inwardly. Although these three were timid and cowardly, they were still healthy teenagers, with bright minds and abundant yang energy. Today's predicament could only be resolved by them, at least until Ma Ming returned. That damn senior brother who was always absent at crucial moments! Shen Fengxi couldn't help but curse inwardly.

“I’m going to set up a formation now. I could have handled this myself, but I can’t move right now, so I have no choice but to use this method. I’ll rely on the three of you to set up the formation and deal with the current crisis.”

Wu Bing asked curiously, "What's the name of this formation?"

"The Three Talents Fight to the Bottom of Heaven and Earth, the Invincible Golden Light Two-fold Array."

"That name sounds so cool!" Dong Hua exclaimed admiringly.

Shen Fengxi narrowed his eyes and smiled: "I was just kidding, I just made it up on the spot."

"..."

While the four of them were chatting idly...

Chu Yunnan suddenly shouted

"Look!"

The other two quickly lowered their heads. They had been so engrossed in chatting that they hadn't noticed the blackness had spread up to their waists and was about to engulf them like a rising tide.

Shen Fengxi said, "Don't worry, have you forgotten what I said? Recite that classic funny line: 'This is all just an illusion.' Look in the mirror in your hand."

"What should we do?" Wu Bing nervously swallowed, after all, he was already half-submerged in blackness—whether it was an illusion or not. This was a huge psychological shock, and the other two were in a similar situation.